Railways in South East Queensland
Queensland Rail SEQ rail network | |
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overhead lines | |
Top speed | 140 km/h (87 mph) |
South East Queensland has a large passenger and freight railway network centred on Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Suburban and interurban passenger services in the region are operated by Queensland Rail, which also operates long-distance trains across the state. Aurizon and Pacific National operate freight services.
Queensland Rail operates ten suburban and two interurban lines in South East Queensland, which are all electrified. Centred in the
Each line is ascribed a colour and name on all Queensland Rail signage and marketing collateral including timetables, posters and maps. There are 153 stations on the South East Queensland rail network. Queensland Rail refers to the network by two different names, either as the 'South East Queensland (SEQ) network'[2] or the 'Citytrain network'.[3][4] Rail services and ticketing are co-ordinated by the Queensland government agency Translink.
Queensland Rail’s trains had 42.86 million boardings in the 2022–23 financial year, giving the SEQ rail network the fourth highest patronage out of Australia's suburban rail networks, behind that of Perth.[5][6]
History
Construction
The first railway in Queensland did not actually run to
Lines were opened from Brisbane to
A branch line was completed between
The
Electrification
A start on
Duplication
To increase the capacity on a number of lines, the rail network in Brisbane has required some tracks to be duplicated. In June 2004,
Increased capacity
Beenleigh line
A third track was laid between Salisbury and Kuraby stations, a length of 9.5 km (5.9 mi). Previously two tracks, the added capacity allows Gold Coast line services to operate with less chance of delays. Seven railway stations along the section were significantly upgraded. The project was commissioned on 2 March 2008.[19]
Ferny Grove line
A second track was laid between Mitchelton and Keperra railway station, including an upgrade to the intermediate stations, Oxford Park and Grovely. Upgraded with two platforms, this upgrade allows additional services to operate on the line during peak hour, and will also remove waiting times outbound from Mitchelton and inbound from Keperra. Other improvements include lifts and footbridges, to meet the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport, and new, modern station buildings.[20] The further duplication of the railway between Keperra and Ferny Grove stations, plus an additional platform and parking at Ferny Grove has been completed.
Gold Coast line
The line between Ormeau and Coomera stations, 6.7 km (4.2 mi) in length, was duplicated in October 2006, allowing for additional capacity.[21] Similarly, the 16.6 km (10.3 mi) length between Helensvale and Robina stations was duplicated in July 2008, removing the need for a four-minute layover at Helensvale for Robina services to wait for the Brisbane service due to the single track either side of the station.[22]
Ipswich line
5.2 km (3.2 mi) of track between Corinda and Darra stations was quadruplicated. Previously four tracks to Corinda then two to Ipswich, the quadruplication allowed for greater capacity, especially with the Springfield railway line branching from Darra station.
Sunshine Coast line
13.7 km (8.5 mi) of track north of Caboolture station to Beerburrum station has been duplicated and re-aligned, along with the construction of stations at Elimbah and Beerburrum. Construction work began in 2007, and the project was commissioned on 14 April 2009.[23]
From Beerburrum station, 17 km (11 mi) of track to Landsborough is proposed to be similarly duplicated and re-aligned. This project is in planning stage, with construction scheduled to begin in 2020.[24]
Recent extensions
Airport line
The
Gold Coast line
In July 2007,
A light rail line, G:link, on the Gold Coast opened in July 2014.
Springfield line
The
Redcliffe Peninsula line
The
Future
A number of upgrades and extensions are planned or under construction for the rail network in South East Queensland. The Maroochydore railway line is proposed to branch off the North Coast line at Beerwah and operate via Caloundra to Maroochydore.
In 2011, the Queensland Government released a major transport plan Connecting SEQ 2031, which aimed to double public transport usage in South East Queensland.[33][34] It proposed a number of service upgrades and rail extensions, including Cross River Rail, the Gold Coast light rail, a new high frequency Brisbane subway in the central city from Toowong to Bowen Hills, and a new North-west rail line branching from Cross River Rail at Alderley to Strathpine.[34]
Cross River Rail
On 26 August 2007, the then-Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Parsons Brinckerhoff as consultants to "look at options for boosting rail capacity in the city centre, including potential for an underground tunnel".[35]
This project, Cross River Rail, is now under construction and scheduled to open to the public in early 2026.[36] In 2017, work began on a second rail river crossing for Brisbane as the Merivale Bridge nears capacity. The project includes just under six kilometres of new underground rail, three new underground stations at Boggo Road, Woolloongabba and Albert Street, new underground platforms at Roma Street station, and an upgrade to the existing Exhibition station. The new inner-city route will be used by the New Generation Rollingstock.||
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Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail
Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail is a corridor upgrade project for the Beenleigh and Gold Coast Lines. The project will quadruplicate the tracks between Kuraby and Beenleigh, upgrade six stations, relocate three others, make the entire area grade-separated, and implement ETCS Level 2 from Salisbury to Varsity Lakes.[37] |
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Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line
Direct Sunshine Coast Rail (DSC) is a new rail line from Beerwah to Maroochydore, servicing the growing southern Sunshine Coast communities of Birtinya, Caloundra, Nirimba, Aroona and Kawana.[38] The corridor shares the proposed Kawana Motorway corridor from Birtinya to Maroochydore, intertwined along its route. North of Maroochydore there is allowance for a future extension to the Sunshine Coast Airport. In the south, the corridor is predominantly flat with minimal curves to provide the fastest speeds possible through open grass floodplains and the glasshouse plantation forests. |
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Lines and services
Queensland Rail operates ten suburban and three interurban rail lines across South East Queensland, centred on the Brisbane central business district. Lines that share a colour connect through the central city. The Exhibition line is a special events service connecting the Brisbane Showgrounds. Note that some stations are counted multiple times on this list.
Line | First Service | Image | Length | Stations | Rolling stock | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Airport line | 2001 | 15.9 km (9.9 mi) | 2 (branch) | |||
Beenleigh line | 1881 (electrified 1982-4) | 41.5 km (25.8 mi) | 22 | |||
Caboolture line | 1888 (electrified 1982-6) | 49.6 km (30.8 mi) | 13 | |||
Cleveland line | 1888 (electrified 1982-8) | 37.3 km (23.2 mi) | 25 | |||
Doomben line | 1882 (electrified 1988) | 8 km (5.0 mi) | 11 | |||
Exhibition line | 1882 (electrified 1982) | 3.4 km (2.1 mi) | 1 (branch) | |||
Ferny Grove line | 1899 (electrified 1979) | 13.5 km (8.4 mi) | 11 | |||
Gold Coast line | 1996 | 20 |
| |||
Ipswich and Rosewood line | 1876 (electrified 1979-93) | 57 km (35 mi) | 32 | |||
Redcliffe Peninsula line | 2016 | 12 km (7.5 mi) | 6 (branch) | |||
Shorncliffe line | 1882 (electrified 1982) | 11 km (6.8 mi) | 18 | |||
Springfield line | 2013 | 13.6 km (8.5 mi) | 4 (Branch) | |||
Sunshine Coast line | 1881 (Electrified 1988) | 180 km (110 mi) | 29 |
RailBus services
Translink operates several bus routes along corridors on behalf of QR where the railway line has been closed to passenger traffic or supplements low-patronage lines at specific times of the day.[39]
To relieve congestion on the single track North Coast line north of Beerburrum, the rail service is supplemented by a bus service operated by Kangaroo Bus Lines on weekdays between Caboolture and Nambour as route 649.[40]
Stations
There are 153 stations on the South East Queensland rail network.[1] The four Brisbane city stations — Roma Street, Brisbane Central, Fortitude Valley and Bowen Hills — are served by all suburban and interurban lines and together form the core of the network.
Operators
Passenger
Suburban and interurban passenger services are operated under the Citytrain brand of Queensland Rail, and are co-ordinated by Translink. Long-distance passenger services operate from Roma Street around the state under the Traveltrain brand, while an interstate service to Sydney is operated by New South Wales operator NSW TrainLink using its XPT fleet.
In a city with a population of 2 million, passenger traffic on the suburban network doubled in the 10 years from 1979 to 1989 to reach 50 million journeys a year in 1989, and by 1992 it had increased by another 10%. In June 2009 as part the split of Queensland Rail's commuter rail and the freight business,[42] The Citytrain brand was dropped in favour of using the redesigned Queensland Rail
On 8 March 2017, the Queensland Government released a report called "Fixing the trains: a high-level implementation plan to transform rail in Queensland" This report officially resurrected the Citytrain network naming for the first time since the split. Since this report, the Citytrain brand has slowly made its way back into reports. This brand re-emergence does not seem to be a controlled and deliberate action, but rather appeared in the report due to the Citytrain brand being well known amongst many within the Brisbane area. The report unofficially initiated a return of the Citytrain branding, and established the Citytrain Response Unit to respond to the plan.
Freight
Aurizon operates the majority of freight services on both the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard and 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauges, with Pacific National on the standard gauge and their narrow gauge Pacific National Queensland division also operating services.
The main rail freight terminal is in the southern Brisbane suburb of
Approximately four million tonnes of freight is moved from outside South East Queensland to points within it; 1.1 million tonnes was to interstate destinations. One of the largest internal traffic flows is the movement of coal along the Western Line to the Swanbank Power Station and the Port of Brisbane.[44]
The
Fares and ticketing
The South East Queensland rail network structures its fares according to Translink's eight pricing zones. The system has integrated ticketing with public transport throughout South East Queensland using the contactless fare payment card called go card.[46] The card requires passengers to touch the card on a card reader at the start and end of each journey, and when transferring between services.
Fleet
All of the Queensland Rail City Network rolling stock is electric and air conditioned.
- Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) – 28 in service (88 built)[47]
- Suburban Multiple Unit (SMU)
- Interurban Multiple Unit (IMU)
- New Generation Rollingstock
- 700 Series – 75 in service
- Queensland Train Manufacturing Program (QTMP) (in progress)
All trains are electric multiple units with a driver cabin at both ends, with the exception of EMU60 through EMU79 having a cab at one end. These units also had only 3 powered bogies (per 3 car set) compared to the 4 powered bogie arrangement for the remaining EMUs. The last of these units, EMU78, was scrapped in August 2020. All EMU, SMU and IMU units consist of 3 cars, giving a fleet total of 621 cars, plus the 20 ICE cars. The ICE units are usually configured as five car trains.
Suburban trains are occasionally scheduled on interurban lines if other toilet equipped rolling stock is not available. While using suburban trains on interurban lines increases operational flexibility, the trains are not provided with the facilities of the IMU, ICE or NGR units, such as toilets or high-backed seats.
The 260 Series SMU, 160 Series IMU and the NGR all come with free Wi-Fi on board.[50] The Wi-Fi usage is limited to 20MB.[51]
75 new six-car New Generation Rollingstock trains were ordered in January 2014 and were delivered between late 2015 and late 2019.[52] A new maintenance facility for these trains was built at Wulkuraka. The first NGR entered service on 11 December 2017.
To keep up with projected passenger increases, the procurement of 20 new electric trains was announced in 2020, with TMR considering the option of ordering an additional 45 electric trains, potentially adding up to 65 new electric trains in the next decade.[49]
Closed lines
- Beaudesert line – Bethania to Beaudesert.
- Beaudesert Shire Tramway – Beaudesert to Lamington and Rathdowney, operated by the Beaudesert Shire.
- Belmont Shire, Queensland Railways and Brisbane City Council.
- Bulimba line – Brunswick Street to Newstead.
- Canungra.
- .
- Tweed Heads.
- South Brisbanewharves.
Further reading
- The Suburban Railways of Brisbane. Knowles, J. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, February to September, 1964
References
- ^ a b "QR Citytrain Network Map". Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ Network map Archived 26 September 2022 at the Wayback Machine Queensland Rail 26 September 2022
- ^ Plan your journey Archived 26 September 2022 at the Wayback Machine Queensland Rail 26 September 2022
- ^ Queensland Rail on Twitter: "Citytrain network update" Queensland Rail 26 September 2022
- ^ Queensland Rail (20 September 2023). "Queensland Rail Annual and Financial Report FY2022-2023. Page 40" (PDF). Queensland Rail. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
- ^ Public Transport Authority of WA (27 October 2023). "Transport Performance". Public Transport Authority of WA. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
- ^ "QR Corporate – QR History – Beginnings". QR Limited. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
- ^ "QR Corporate – QR History – Building to the bush". QR Limited. Archived from the original on 22 July 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
- ^ "QR Corporate – QR History – The common carrier". QR Limited. Archived from the original on 22 July 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
- ^ The Old South Coast Line Revisited Marggraf, E.W. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin November 2003 pp422-427
- ISBN 0-646-06893-8.
- ISBN 0-646-06893-8.
- ^ a b c "QR Corporate - Modern competitive railway". corporate.qr.com.au. Archived from the original on 22 July 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
- ^ "Brisbane Rail Electrification Stages 1 and 2" Armstrong, J Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin August 1982 pp165-192
- ^ "Annual Report Summaries" Railway Digest February 1996 page 26
- ^ "OPTIMISM SPURS MAJOR QR INVESTMENT". Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ "Corinda to Darra Rail Upgrade: Overview". QR Network. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ Tony Moore (8 June 2010). "Station upgrades for SEQ". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 9 June 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
- ^ "Salisbury to Kuraby Third Track". SEQIPRail. QR Limited. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Mitchelton to Keperra Duplication". SEQIPRail. QR Limited. 30 November 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Ormeau to Coomera Duplication". SEQIPRail. QR Limited. 29 November 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Helensvale to Robina Duplication". SEQIPRail. QR Limited. 30 November 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Caboolture to Beerburrum Doubling". SEQIPRail. QR Limited. 14 January 2008. Archived from the original on 24 October 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
- ^ "Beerburrum to Landsborough Track Doubling". SEQIPRail. QR Limited. 29 December 2007. Archived from the original on 24 October 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
- ^ a b c "Transfield – Current Activities – Brisbane Airtrain". Archived from the original on 3 November 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ "Brisbane Airport rail link to go ahead". Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ "Extra Rollingstock for Airtrain Services". Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ a b c "State Government makes tracks from Robina to Varsity Lake". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ "Gold Coast rail extension opens six months ahead of schedule". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ Department of Transport and Main Roads (5 February 2019). "Robina to Tugun Rail Impact Assessment Study". www.tmr.qld.gov.au. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
- ^ "SEQIPRAIL - Darra to Springfield Transport Corridor - Overview". SEQIPRail. QR Limited. 10 November 2007. Archived from the original on 17 June 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2008.
- ^ "Fast track to growth: Springfield train line is opened". The Queensland Times. Archived from the original on 3 May 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ^ Queensland Government (2011). "Connecting SEQ 2031" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
- ^ a b Queensland Government (2011). "Connecting SEQ 2031: Part C Detailed network strategies for 2031" (PDF).
- Government of Queensland. 26 August 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
- ^ "'Absolutely unavoidable' $960m cost blowout for Brisbane's Cross River Rail revealed". ABC News. 31 March 2023. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ "Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail". Department of Transport and Main Roads. Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ "Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line". TMR Projects. Queensland Government. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ "TransLink Railbus". Archived from the original on 12 August 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ "Route 649 timetable". Translink.
- ISBN 0-646-06893-8.
- ^ Queensland asset sales to reap $15 billion Archived 19 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine Brisbane Times 2 June 2009
- ISBN 0-86840-411-X. Archivedfrom the original on 11 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
- ^ "4.3 SEQ Rail Freight Task". South East Queensland Intermodal Freight Terminal Study. Queensland Transport. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
- ^ Bureau of Transport Economics (February 1974). "Development of a Rail Freight Terminal at Acacia Ridge". Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics. Archived from the original on 27 July 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
- ^ "About go card". Translink. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Citytrain fleet". queenslandrail.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
- ISSN 0157-2431.
- ^ a b "Queensland Train Manufacturing Project". tmr.qld.gov.au. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ "QUEENSLAND RAIL COMPLETES ROLL-OUT OF WIFI TRAINS". Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ^ "Transport Priority in State Budget 2008-09" (PDF). SEQIPRail. QLD Treasury Department. 3 June 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
- ^ "New Generation Rollingstock". Department of Transport and Main Roads. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.