Three new Gold Coast rail stations to take pressure off the M1

LABOR has announced it will deliver three new rail stations for the Gold Coast to take pressure off the congested Pacific Motorway. Here’s where they will be.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk walks back to her car after a visit to Robina train station during the Queensland Election campaign. (AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)

LABOR has announced it will deliver three new rail stations for the Gold Coast to take pressure off the congested Pacific Motorway.

The new stations will be located at Pimpama, Helensvale North and Worongary-Merrimac, as part of the Cross River Rail project.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk walks through Robina train station before making an announcement on new stations. (AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told the Gold Coast Bulletin: “These three new stations will mean more Gold Coast residents can benefit from the 3150 extra peak hour seats on the Gold Coast line under Cross River Rail, helping to take pressure off the M1 as well.

“Better public transport is critical for the Gold Coast, with the population expected to grow by an extra 350,000 residents over the next 25 years — taking the population to almost 1 million people.

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“These three new stations will only happen with Cross River Rail — a critical infrastructure project my government has fully funded.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk surrounded by Gold Coast candidates at the rail station announcement. (AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)

The Opposition’s immediate response to the announcement today was the Government had only pledged funding for planning and the stations would not be ready until 2023.

Opposition transport spokesman Andrew Powell told the Gold Coast Bulletin: “Today we’ve seen another thought bubble from Annastacia Palaszczuk in the final days of her chaotic campaign.

“Annastacia Palaszczuk has only delivered chaos and disruption for southeast Queensland’s train network. There’s no point having more stations if there are no trains or train drivers.”

Mr Powell said funding a study for extra train stations would not compensate for Labor’s lack of drivers and the scrapping of 470 weekly train services.

He said the rail fail had to be fixed before the Commonwealth Games in April next year.

But the Premier criticised the LNP for not supporting Cross River Rail saying it would mean the new stations had to be cut from future budgets.

“The choice at this election is clear — a stable government that delivers key infrastructure and plans for the future, or an LNP-One Nation coalition of chaos and indecision,” she said.

The Premier said $3 million will be made available for detailed planning and design of the new stations from next year with each station expected to cost up to $40 million.