Horror start to morning commute: Train and M1 woes cause traffic delays on Gold Coast

It was a horror start to the morning commute around the Gold Coast with heavy delays hitting the M1 and troubles on the city’s rail lines.

IT was a horror start to the morning commute around the Gold Coast with heavy delays hitting the M1 and troubles on the city’s rail lines.

Congestion was still recovering more than an hour after an accident in the northbound lanes on the motorway around Helensvale, where a semi-trailer truck collided with a number of cars.

The accident happened near Movieworld just before 6am, leaving large amounts of debris strewn across the lanes.

Traffic was backed up both north and south on the M1 following separate incidents. Picture: Twitter / Steve Hart

A police spokeswoman said one of the vehicles was trapped in the median strip, spun around by the force of the impact.

Remarkably there were no serious injuries, a Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman confirmed.

Earlier, a car fire at the Smith Street Motorway exit caused headaches for commuters.

The car, which is believed to have been abandoned, was found well alight in the southbound lanes at Exit 66 around 5am.

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It took two fire crews about half an hour to extinguish the blaze and police are investigating the cause of the fire.

Meanwhile train passengers were also facing delays this morning after a person wandered on the tracks, forcing services to stop.

UPDATE: Gold Coast line trains are suspended in both directions between Helensvale and Nerang stations due to a person reportedly trespassing in the corridor. Customers can expect delays of up to 30 minutes. https://t.co/holShYkwgu #TLAlert #TLGoldcoastline pic.twitter.com/zvzWhwBQGf

— TransLink (@TransLinkSEQ) November 5, 2019

At 6.50am TransLink told passengers to expect delays of up to 30 minutes between Helensvale and Nerang stations as police dealt with the situation.

Gold Coast line trains have resumed in both directions between Helensvale and Nerang stations following an earlier incident where a person was reportedly trespassing in the corridor. https://t.co/h0EKuInPz0 #TLAlert #TLGoldcoastline pic.twitter.com/zeOYzzqXbz

— TransLink (@TransLinkSEQ) November 5, 2019

The issue was resolved by 7.40am, when passengers were told services had resumed as normal.