Lack of parking at Gold Coast stations putting people off both light rail and train

Demand is huge for light rail and train services but one glaring omission is stopping many Gold Coasters from hopping on board, writes Keith Woods.

ON an obscure northern Gold Coast backstreet, the city’s transport crisis is laid bare.

Each and every weekday, dozens of cars line the grass verge at Country Club Drive.

The vehicles belong to commuters unable to find a space in the train station car park across the road.

Astonishingly, the 400-space car park on Country Club Drive — which added to an existing 950-space facility on Town Centre Drive — was only opened in December 2017, when light rail services began from Helensvale. It is less than two years old. But already it is proving hopelessly inadequate.

It is a repeat of a problem which has long tortured users of Coomera Railway Station, 10km further north.

Cars lining Country Club Drive outside Helensvale station yesterday.

Yesterday, when this column visited, cars were seen parked on every available scrap of land around the station.

Coomera MP Michael Crandon, who has campaigned for many years to secure an upgrade to the car park, says it’s a daily occurrence.

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“My last drive through Coomera Station to do a car count was two weeks ago,” he told this column. “The ‘informally parked’ car count within the station was 99.”

At Helensvale, local MP Sam O’Connor estimates there “at least a hundred cars” lining Country Club Drive each day, beside a station which has become a major transport hub.

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Melanie James was slammed with a fine of $260 for illegally parking at the Coomera train station. Picture: Richard Gosling.

“I think it’s the only place in the country where light rail meets heavy rail, meets buses and cars and has a major shopping centre,” he told me.

Mr O’Connor raised the issue in state parliament last year, highlighting the fact that commuters were risking $157 fines for parking on the grass verges.

The Bonney MP noted big spends on upgrades to parking at Brisbane, Springfield, Virginia, Lindum, Geebung, Lawnton, Darra and Salisbury stations.

“If it is good enough for all of them, it is good enough for Helensvale,” he said. “We simply need more car parks or less people will use our public transport.”

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Cars parked on a grass verge outside Coomera train station yesterday.

The situation at Helensvale is complicated by the fact that the Coomera Connector will pass through the area. Although the state owns significant land in the area, it is unclear if any remain available after planning for the ‘second M1’ is complete.

At Coomera, after many years of frustration, there is hope once more of progress.

The Federal Government has committed $15 million to pay for the addition of 400 carparking spaces.

In July, Mr Crandon wrote to the Queensland Transport Minister, Mark Bailey, asking that the state chip in another $5 million, which he says would allow for a total of 600 car parks to be built.

“As there are now approximately 560 car parks at the Coomera Railway Station, this would mean car park availability in the heart of the fastest growing region in Queensland, would be in the order of 1,160 car parks,” he said in the letter.

Mr Bailey’s response, received by Mr Crandon last week, angered the Coomera MP.

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Helensvale train station has become a major transport hub since the addition of the light rail.

Mr Bailey wrote that the department is “undertaking a planning study to investigate opportunities to improve access to Coomera Station,” and “any potential park and ride expansion and bus improvements will be subject to further design, funding availability and statewide prioritisation of transport infrastructure investments.”

Mr Crandon said the response indicated that the Minister “doesn’t care” about delays to northern Gold Coast infrastructure.

“I can’t believe the minister’s comments about prioritisation,” he said. “We’ve got massive congestion on the M1, poor bus services to Coomera and Ormeau Stations, an obvious need for the upgrade and $15 million contribution from the Federal Government, and all we get is standard lines in a letter!

“He’s planning, planning, planning, in letter after letter, when we need building, building, building.”

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Commuters are finding it very difficult to find a car park at Helensvale.

Minister Bailey, however, told this column in a statement that the Palaszczuk Government had made considerable progress during its more than four years in power.

“Gold Coast LNP MPs like Michael Crandon failed to secure funding for any major Gold Coast public transport projects during the LNP’s term in office, yet they complain about Labor’s achievements and investments,” Mr Bailey said.

“ … In contrast, Labor delivered the $163 million Helensvale to Coomera track duplication, the $420 million light rail stage two, $160 million in local roads upgrades and 1000 new park n ride spaces at Parkwood Station ahead of the Commonwealth Games, as well as the $14 million Helensvale bus station revamp.”

Mr Bailey’s department has, in the last four months, also promised 185 new car parks at Varsity Lakes station and 110 at Ormeau.

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State Member for Coomera, Michael Crandon has called for more parking in the area for years. Picture: Jerad Williams

However it is unclear when either will be finished, with the department stating in both cases that design work will be completed “in coming months” and that tenders will follow soon after.

Mr Bailey was also unable to give a timeline for work at Coomera, although he said “early planning” was underway.

“We are also negotiating with the Federal Government around upgrading the Coomera park’n’ride, following commitments by them at the recent federal election,” Mr Bailey said.

“We have started early planning on the Coomera upgrade and the outcome of funding negotiations will provide some clarity on when the project can be delivered.

“Three new Gold Coast rail stations, including at Helensvale North, will be constructed to complement Cross River Rail, so Gold Coast commuters will have additional options to choose from in terms of where they park and catch the train from.”

For commuters at Helensvale and Coomera, these changes can’t come quickly enough.

At Helensvale, where no new capacity is planned, locals can only hope that upgrades elsewhere will ease the pressure, and that they happen long before the light rail extension to Burleigh, which will no doubt add to demand.

Ultimately, the tarmac of the recently installed car park may have to be ripped up and replaced with a multistorey facility, as has occurred at a number of locations in Brisbane.

We should probably be planning for that day already. The need is pretty obvious, made clear by the long line of cars parked every day on Country Club Drive.

That line will get far longer still if we keep kicking the can further down the grass verge of this Helensvale road.