Extra train services to cut waiting times, provide more seats An overhaul of train timetables will ease peak period congestion. Seven train services will be added to the Gold Coast line during morning and evening peak hours under a massive rail timetable overhaul. More than 200 additional services will be added to the southeast Queensland network from January 20 next year. But the overhaul will come at the expense of fewer express services. Coomera MP Michael Crandon said up to 7500 Gold Coast rail commuters, currently forced to spend more than 40 minutes sitting on the floor or standing on trains to Brisbane, were among the big winners. "This is a great result for Gold Coast commuters with a 30 to 40 per cent increase in peak services," Mr Crandon said. The Gold Coast has the highest number of services where people stand long distances and I've been lobbying for four years to see the day when the Gold Coast line is no longer referred to as the Bombay Express. Three services will be added to the Gold Coast line during the morning peak hour, increasing the number of services from nine to 12. Meanwhile, four services will be added to the existing 10 Gold Coast services during the evening peak hour. It means the Brisbane River rail crossing at South Brisbane, the Merivale bridge, will be at capacity. Rail studies have shown the bridge will be congested by 2016. The Newman government has said it is in the final stages of planning a cut-price alternative to the now defunct Cross River Rail, the Brisbane Underground. However, Opposition transport spokeswoman Jackie Trad said the timetable changes were the result of the Newman government's last efforts to squeeze capacity out of the network before it hit crisis-levels in 2016. These changes represent the last bits of capacity that can be wrung out of the network as it stands. We urgently need Cross River Rail to be built,"" Ms Trad said. Instead of working with Federal Labor to build Cross River Rail when they had the chance, Campbell Newman and Scott Emerson played politics and went back to square one to design a new project from scratch. "Crunch time in 2016 is getting closer and closer."" She said Queenslanders could not afford for the Newman Government to "keep dragging its heels on Cross River Rail." Robert Dow from commuter lobby group Rail Back on Track said the new timetable was an excellent outcome for southeast Queensland. ""Initially promised for late 2011, these new timetable changes are better late than never,"" he said. ""Queensland Rail and Translink have extracted the maximum capacity and train utilisation out of their resources to roll out these new timetables."" Some of the key timetable changes include: More peak Gold Coast services - nine to 12 for AM and 10 to 14 for PM Altandi will replace Coopers Plains as the express stop on the Gold Coast line More peak Shorncliffe services - eight to 11 for AM and eight to 12 for PM 50 per cent service increase at some of the Cleveland line's busiest stations 15 minute day-time off-peak CBD to Cannon Hill on the Cleveland line More peak service for Beenleigh station - 19 to 24 for AM and 18 to 25 for PM 15 minute day-time off-peak CBD and Coopers Plains on the Beenleigh line 50 per cent service increase at some of the Ferny Grove line's busiest stations Express services on the Ferny Grove line will become all station services - an increased trip time of four-to-five minutes each. 15 minute day-time off-peak CBD and Northgate on the Caboolture line An additional peak AM and PM Sunshine Coast service. Correction: This article previously incorrectly reported 19 extra services would be added to the Gold Coast line.