Helensvale Station patronage for the past five years - QON

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Queensland Parliament

https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/tableOffice/questionsAnswers/2020/814-2020.pdf

Question on Notice

No. 814

Asked on 11 August 2020

MR S O'CONNOR ASKED MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND MAIN ROADS (HON M BAILEY)

QUESTION:

With reference to patronage data—

Will the Minister advise for all users of Helensvale Station for the past five years - broken down
annually and into individual categories for bus, train and light rail and any other available data on
the daily number of individuals who initiate their journey (tap on) or complete their journey (tap
off) at Helensvale Station across all these modes of transport?

ANSWER:

I thank the Member for Bonney for the question.

The Palaszczuk Government has a strong record of investing in public transport – whether it's Cross
River Rail, Light Rail on the Gold Coast, upgrading train stations or new bus services in our growing
outer-urban areas.

During the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2019 (financial years 2015–16 to 2018–19), the
Palaszczuk Government delivered approximately $1.8 billion of transport and roads infrastructure
investment specially in the Gold Coast, Logan and Scenic Rim areas.

This investment included the $163.3 million duplication of the Gold Coast rail line between
Coomera and Helensvale, and Stage 2 of Gold Coast Light Rail linking heavy rail to Stage 1 of
the light rail, both completed in 2018. Stage 2 of the light rail cost $420 million, split between the
State Government ($270 million), the Australian Government ($95 million) and the City of Gold
Coast.

Furthermore, works have started on the Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 3 from Broadbeach to
Burleigh Heads. High level corridor planning is now underway following a commitment of
$2.5 million from the Palaszczuk Government to undertake a preliminary business case for a
future light rail from Burleigh to Coolangatta that will be jointly funded with the City of Gold Coast.

In addition to this, we are building more park 'n' rides and upgrading train stations across the
region. A total of 4000 car parks have already been delivered in the last four years and an
additional 3000 carparks are rolling out across the network. This includes building three new Gold
Coast train stations that will take pressure off Helensvale station, as will the upgrades we are
delivering for Gold Coast park 'n' rides at Varsity Lakes, Ormeau and Loganlea, which will take
pressure off the surrounding park 'n' rides and will add extra capacity for commuters.

During 2018, the Palaszczuk Government invested $14 million to upgrade Helensvale Train Station
which has allowed customers to more seamlessly connect between buses, trains, light rail, taxis and
private cars. This upgrade included adding additional capacity to the park 'n' ride which now has a
total of 1285 parking spaces.

While patronage numbers continue to be influenced by the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic, the Palaszczuk Government is focused on maintaining critical services for Queensland
and continues to support customers returning to public transport with the recent provision of more
peak hour buses and trains across the South East Queensland network.



The Palaszczuk Government is taking the necessary steps to help ease congestion by connecting
Gold Coast residents with public transport as the region continues to grow.
For years the Gold Coast has been left behind by its LNP representatives. It is only a Palaszczuk
Labor Government that is getting on with the job of building vital infrastructure for the Gold Coast.