I’ve debated the merit of this in my mind too as I agree that Logan residents get a raw deal, and patronage at those stations reflect that. Poor frequency and travel times are a double whammy.
If I was to implement something like this, I’d probably run it this way:
- All stations Altandi to Albion.
- All stations Beenleigh to Altandi then express to Boggo Road.
- Current Gold Coast stopping patterns.
My reasons for this are the following:
- Altandi makes a better changing point for this as it’s already a major interchange between local and inter urban services as well as bus services.
- Logan and Runcorn residents receive a faster service while still serving local Logan City stations.
- Albion will be a major interchange following the launch of CRR so makes sense to terminate the Altandi all stoppers connect with northside services.
- It allows for a high frequency of services all day through CRR.
In order to allow this to happen, at the bare minimum I would imagine that LGCFR needs to be extended from Kuraby to at least Altandi which would be a four platform interchange station. I’d also suggest a turn back facility at Albion for services to turn around without interfering with through and freight services. The added benefit of this would be improved capacity and removal of those level crossings between Runcorn and Kuraby.