Gold Coast railway: Heavy rail to Gold Coast Airport stations and route revealed
The route the heavy rail will travel to Gold Coast Airport can be revealed, with plans showing four stations, bridges across the M1 and trains travelling under a popular street. SEE THE MAP
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FOUR railway stations will be built between Varsity Lakes and the border as part of the multi-billion dollar heavy rail extension – when it happens.
Plans for the future railway route obtained by the Gold Coast Bulletin reveal for the first time how the city’s south will be transformed.
According to the plans, the trains will travel along a corridor near the M1 with:
• New stations built at Tallebudgera, Elanora, Tugun and Gold Coast Airport.
• Rail bridges crossing over the M1 at Reedy Creek Rd, Bermuda St and across the highway to the western side of the M1 where the Tallebudgera station will be built.
• The railway line running under 19th Ave at Palm Beach, with the route remaining on the western side of the highway south to Elanora.
• Stage 2 seeing the trains continue south of Elanora to a station at Tugun near Boyd St and circling back north to arrive at Gold Coast Airport, where it will connect with the light rail.
HOW MUCH SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL WILL COST
News of the route has been welcomed by long-serving Palm Beach councillor Daphne McDonald, who said it would reduce congestion on the M1 and local roads.
“This has been talked about for nearly 20 years and it looks like they have finally determined where the stations are going,” she said.
“This makes a lot more sense to me than light rail and it is the service most likely to relieve the M1 traffic.
“The heavy rail has been a project on the backburner for a long time but this proves there is light at the end of the tunnel so we now need the Government to get serious about this.”
The four southern stations will come in addition to three extra heavy rail stations at Pimpama, Helensvale North and Worongary-Merrimac, which will be built as part of the State Government’s Cross River Rail project. The Government says that project in the Brisbane CBD is vital to relieving congestion, which has to happen before it can boost frequency on and extend the Gold Coast line.
The southern railway line will also require dual tracks, keeping with the rest of the Coast’s rail network rather than single north-south tracks.
“Planning has identified the extension of the Gold Coast rail line will require dual tracks to meet the future demand for rail services from the area,” a State Government document on the extension says.
“A single track passenger rail line would reduce the frequency of services on the line and cause delays to passengers.”
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Gold Coast Airport has incorporated a heavy rail station into planned expansion of its terminal.
Gold Coast Airport boss Chris Mills told the Bulletin in June the rail extension would be needed to cope with the city’s growing population.
“In the medium-to-longer term, heavy rail to the southern end of the city also needs to be planned, particularly for the increasing Gold Coast population living to the west,” he said.
The airport would become the second hub for heavy and light rail, with the systems already connecting at Helensvale.
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A $660 million Broadbeach to Burleigh extension of the light rail contains options for western tram links from Nobby Beach to Robina and Burleigh Heads to Varsity Lakes, which will be considered as the Coast’s public transport network grows.
A Gold Coast Bulletin Golden Age survey this year found strong support for improved train transport.
Seventy-six per cent said they would stop driving and take the train to Brisbane if fares were halved and rail services improved.
About 90 per cent of respondents said they would ride a bullet train to Brisbane if the journey took less than 15 minutes. Of those, 88 per cent said they would be willing to pay a fare of either $10 or $20.
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