Merrimac railway station is a planned railway station on the Gold Coast Line in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. It will serve the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

suburbs of Merrimac, Worongary and

Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, west-northwest o ...

, and will be located between

Nerang Nerang is a town and suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Nerang had a population of 16,864 people. Geography The Nerang River flows through the locality from south to east, passing through the town. The river u ...

and Robina stations.

History

In November 2017, the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...

committed to building three new in-fill stations on the Gold Coast Line as part of the

AU$ The Australian dollar ( sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Isla ...

5.4 billion

Cross River Rail Cross River Rail is an underground railway project through central Brisbane, which is, , under construction. Cross River Rail will see the development of a new rail line underneath Brisbane River, and the redevelopment of a number of stations ...

project—

Pimpama Pimpama is a northern suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Pimpama had a population of 9,396 people. The name is of Aboriginal origin. The suburb contains numerous schools with the first opening in the 1870s. A s ...

, Helensvale North and Merrimac. It is currently anticipated that more than 2,000 passengers will use Merrimac station per day when it becomes operational. The station is expected to cost up to $40 million to construct, and is planned to be open by 2024, in time for the commencement of services on the new Cross River Rail line. The planned location for Merrimac station is off Gooding Drive, about 750 m (2500 ft) east of the Pacific Motorway interchange. The station will be integrated with other modes of public transport, and is planned to feature connections with pedestrian and bicycle paths. The station concept design currently includes space for 278 car park bays. After the preliminary concept design details of Merrimac station were revealed by the Queensland Government in October 2019,

City of Gold Coast The City of Gold Coast is the local government area spanning the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774 it is the second most populous local government area in Australia (City of Brisbane being the ...

councillor Glenn Tozer expressed concern over the station's planned location. He noted that road congestion in the station's proposed area was already an issue due to local school traffic and the lane merge at the Pacific Motorway interchange. Cr Tozer suggested an alternative location for the station about 1.6 km (1.0 mi) further north, off Elysium Road in the neighbouring suburb of Carrara. He claimed that this location would be ideal due to its proximity to an existing industrial precinct and the planned $1 billion Pacific View Estate major residential development.

References

External links

{{Queensland Rail railway stations, Gold Coast=y, state=collapsed Railway stations in Gold Coast City Proposed railway stations in Australia Railway stations scheduled to open in 2024