, 1898 , 1913 , 1918 Thematically, the rationale for railway construction could be divided into the following categories: • Access from port to interior 1865–1932 • Access to mining areas (or 1st era mine lines) 1881–1929 • Traditional branch lines 1882–1930 • System integration 1883 – ongoing • Contemporary heavy haulage (or 2nd era mine lines) 1952 – ongoing • Urban passenger service 1882 – ongoing
Access to the interior When the
colony of Queensland separated from
New South Wales in 1859, it was a vast undeveloped area with a non-indigenous population of ~30,000. With land as its only significant asset and revenue source, the Queensland government gave priority to facilitating access to and development of any area which showed promise. The first priority was a line to provide the fertile
Darling Downs region with reliable land transport to a river port, and the
Main Line was opened from Ipswich to Dalby between 1865 – 1868, and extended to
Cunnamulla over the next 30 years, providing access to significant areas of country used predominantly for livestock grazing. The line was extended east to Brisbane in 1876 to improve port access. The
Southern line from
Toowoomba was opened to
Warwick in 1871, and extended to the NSW border at
Wallangarra in 1887, providing a rail link (with changes of gauge) to
Sydney,
Melbourne and
Adelaide. The
Central West line from
Rockhampton to
Longreach was opened between 1867–1892, again servicing significant areas of grazing land. The
Great Northern line from
Charters Towers to
Hughenden was opened between 1884 and 1887, and to
Winton in 1899 in order to serve significant areas of grazing land. The Hughenden –
Julia Creek section opened between 1903 – 1907 was for the same purpose. The
Atherton Tablelands rail network was built to service productive agricultural areas once the line reached
Mareeba. The
South Western line was built to prevent freight, especially wool, being shipped via NSW, explaining why the line never serviced
St George, the largest town in the region. The
North Coast line was the last trunk line built, serving many agricultural areas. The last section of traditional line opened in Queensland, from
Thangool – Lawgi in 1932 was part of a scheme to link the town of
Monto to Rockhampton, although by then Monto was already connected to two other ports, and so its abandonment as a result of the depression is not surprising. The first branch line to close in Queensland was built to improve Rockhampton's access to a port, but the Broadmount line was opened in 1898 before other major port facilities were built, and became a redundant line once the NCL from Gladstone was opened in 1903. The fact it remained open until 1929 is a testament to hope over reality.
1st era mine lines Mining has always been a significant part of the Queensland economy, and railways were built to facilitate mine development, though some of the early lines were as notable for being opened as the mining field declined, and one line didn't make it to the mining field before it petered out. The first lines built primarily for mining were Townsville-Charters Towers, Warwick-Stanthorpe, Maryborough-Gympie and the
Mount Perry line. The latter is an example of a line that was open for only a short period before the mining field declined, leaving it serving relatively poor quality agricultural land. The Emerald-Clermont line was built to a copper mine, but it served good quality grazing land and was not affected by the closure of the mine. It returned to being a mining line when the Blair Athol coal extension opened in 1910. A line to facilitate coal exports that probably should have been built sooner was the Corinda-Stanley Street wharf line at south Brisbane. The extension of the
Main Line railway from Ipswich towards Brisbane was originally proposed to assist transport of coal, but the approval didn't include a connection to Brisbane's river port, and it opened in 1875 serving the city centre. The line to Stanley Street finally opened 9 years later, serving the coal wharves for 80 years. In contrast the lines to Ravenswood and Croydon served largely to assist miners to leave the areas, each opening as the fields were in decline. The Ravenswood line became the first rural branch line to close in 1930, and the
Normanton to Croydon line survives largely due to its isolation, it never being connected to the QR network. The other line that was never connected to the network never even made it to the mining field it was built to serve. The Cooktown line was opened about halfway to the
Palmer goldfield when construction was abandoned, and remained open until 1961 to serve a small population in a remote area, having only a weekly railmotor for the last 34 years it operated. The
Cairns line was commenced to serve the Herberton tin field, though by the time it reached the Tableland that field was also in decline. However, the line went on to be a vital connection for the Chillagoe and Etheridge mining fields, which were developed privately as by that time the government had become averse to risking construction of a line primarily for mining purposes. Ironically, with the benefit of hindsight the line to Cloncurry could have been built years earlier with no risk to the government. The Croydon line was intended for Cloncurry until it was diverted in 1890, and Cloncurry waited 20 years for a railway. Today the
Mount Isa line continues to serve this major mining centre. Another line that suffered from the lack of geological knowledge of the era was the branch to
Mount Morgan, built including Queensland's only rack railway in order to minimise cost as insurance in case the
Mount Morgan mine had a short life. The mine in fact turned out to be one of the richest in Australia, and lasted nearly a century. The rack section may have saved on construction cost, but added significantly to ongoing operating costs, and was bypassed in 1952. The last line in this section, from
Bowen to Collinsville foreshadowed the post 1950 expansion of mineral lines, being one of the first lines serving the Bowen Basin coalfields.
Traditional branch lines Every community within a reasonable distance of a railway line benefited once it had opened, and the calls for new lines to service any community without access was a dominant political issue until the 1930s. The first branch line opened was from Ipswich south to Harrisville in 1882, serving a fertile valley. The constant pressure to minimise expenditure resulted in adoption of 1 in 30 (~3.3%) grades and alignments beside roads. The problems caused by such steep grades was soon realised, and subsequent sections adopted 1 in 50 (2%) grades, but the light level of traffic meant the original section was never upgraded. The early branch lines served areas with good quality agricultural land (or the potential for it), including around Emerald, Toowoomba and Warwick. Later lines served more marginal agricultural land, and the cost-benefit equation became more subjective in such areas, especially after better road transport became available from 1920 or so. The last traditional branch line opened (as opposed to an extension of an existing line) was from Inglewood to Texas in 1930. Some branch lines were linked, others had
proposals for links, but few remained open once the electorate put more importance on roads for transport after WW2.
System integration Arguably the first decision of the Queensland government towards system integration was in 1883, when the linking of the Brisbane and Maryborough rail systems, plus the construction of a line to Gladstone was approved, being the genesis of the
North Coast line (NCL). When completed in 1897, it linked three (or four if you count the section built south of Gladstone) of the 11 separate railway systems that had existed in 1890. The Park line was connected to the
Central Western line with the opening of the
Alexandra Railway Bridge across the
Fitzroy River in 1899, potentially anticipating the opening of the Gladstone-Rockhampton section of the NCL in 1903. The most significant system integration decision was the passage of the North Coast Railway and the
Great Western Railway Acts in 1910. Whilst the latter proposed system was effectively abandoned in 1917, the construction of the NCL north of Rockhampton was undertaken intermittently until in 1924 Cairns and the
Tablelands network were connected to the remainder of the QR system (with the exception of the
Cooktown and
Normanton railways, which were never connected). Opening of the link between German Creek, then part of the
Blackwater coal network, and Norwich Park on the
Goonyella coal network in 1983 provided a contingency connection rather than further system integration, as the two networks continue to operate independently. Another system integration component could be considered the
Merivale Bridge, opened in 1978, which connected the Brisbane suburban rail systems that had been functionally separated for close to a century. The opening in 2012 of the
North Goonyella – Newlands line (also previously known as the northern missing link) provides the Goonyella network with an alternative coal terminal, whilst the 'southern missing link', which the
Surat Basin railway proposal is alternatively known as, appears unlikely to be realised in the foreseeable future due to the slowing demand for additional export coal.
2nd era mineral lines The lull in rail construction activity for mining purposes in the 1930s and 1940s simply reflected the economic situation of the Depression and then
World War II. Commencing with the construction of a branch to the
Callide coal mine inland of Gladstone in 1953 (and the associated bypassing of the
rack section at Mount Morgan), there have been a number of 'mineral' (as the term was used by QR) lines constructed, the rate of which again reflected the relative economic demand for Queensland minerals (especially coal), in particular for export. The
Mount Isa and
Collinsville lines were significantly upgraded in the early 1960s to facilitate mineral export from, and coal transport to the expanding mining and refining complex. These lines became QR's first high quality long-distance lines, capable of contemporary best practice railway efficiency such as multiple unit locomotive operation. They were termed 'A class' lines by QR, meaning a 15-ton axle load, a 20% increase on the previous maximum. The Moura mine was connected by a short branch to the existing
Dawson Valley branch in 1963, but the opening of the
Moura Short Line as a direct connection to Gladstone in 1968 (including the first use of
CTC signalling on the system) heralded the heavy haulage future for QR, followed by the
Goonyella line in 1971. These lines were a quantum leap in QR capability, and were termed 'S class' (for Special) lines, with an 18-ton axle load. They enabled the introduction of mid-train radio controlled locomotives (called Locotrol by QR), resulting in six loco, 10,000 ton gross, long coal trains becoming the norm on the Goonyella system lines. Two non-coal mineral lines were developed in the 1970s, to
Greenvale to haul nickel ore to a refinery near Townsville, and to
Phosphate Hill, south of Mt Isa, its ore being evident by the name. The Greenvale line closed in 1993 when the ore was exhausted. The Phosphate Hill line had a patchy start when the rock phosphate was discovered to be more expensive to process than envisaged, and the line was put in virtual 'care and maintenance' status for close to 20 years. Once a natural gas supply became available, processing became economic and the line has seen steady traffic since then. The upgrading of the existing
Central Western network to service the
Blackwater area coal mines was less dramatic, but equally significant, as was the further upgrading and extension of the Collinsville line to Newlands in 1984.
Electrification of the Blackwater and Goonyella coal systems in 1987 enabled further increases in tonnage, more efficiency and concurrent improvements such as CTC signalling (where it hadn't already been installed), as did the duplication of the core Goonyella line, the duplication from Gladstone – Rocklands, and the ongoing duplication between Rocklands – Blackwater, where the due to open by 2015 will complement the sections already duplicated totalling . Exports continued to grow to the point where even Brisbane was revived as an export coal terminal in 1983, when the
Box Flat mine began railing coal there, followed by the Ebenezer mine in 1990. Currently five mines served by the
Western line and/or the
Main Line railway rail coal up to to the Port of Brisbane, most of it descending Queensland's original Main Line, somewhat vindicating the decision to build the world's first narrow gauge main line. Recently constructed coal lines include to Hail Creek, Rollestone (Bauhinia line) and the
North Goonyella to Newlands line, with
Aurizon, the privatised successor to QR undertaking trials of 25,000 gross tonne trains that are long in the continual quest for additional capacity and efficiency.
Urban passenger services The first line built for urban purposes in Queensland was the Roma Street-
Sandgate line opened in 1882 in order to provide convenient access to the seaside for Brisbanites. The
Doomben line proving a similar connection to the main Brisbane racecourse was opened 6 months later. Rockhampton residents demanded a similar convenience, and the
Emu Park line subsequently opened in 1888. Built by the Belmont Shire Council to provide a passenger service, the
Belmont Tramway opened in 1912 but was not a success and closed in 1926. The expanded Brisbane City Council provided an extensive electric tram service to most developed areas of the city, and the replacement bus service from 1968 continued to supplement the suburban rail services. The decision to
electrify the suburban network, which was implemented between 1979 and 1988, resulted in major improvements to passenger comfort (first air-conditioned suburban trains in Australia), frequency (30 minute 'clock face' timetables introduced) and reduced transit times. Patronage increased by 60–65% on most lines in the first full year after electrification. The former rural branch line to
Cleveland (opened 1888, closed beyond
Lota in 1960) was rebuilt on the original alignment to contemporary standards as a suburban line, opening in sections between 1982 and 1987. Similarly the
South Coast line (opened 1885, closed beyond
Beenleigh 1964) was rebuilt but on an improved alignment and opened (as the
Gold Coast line) in sections between 1993 and 2009. There are further plans to extend this line to
Coolangatta Airport. A
new suburban railway, to a new greenfield suburb was opened between 2011–13 to
Springfield, with a proposal to extend it to Ipswich. Redcliffe, a peninsula north of Brisbane has had railway proposals for a century. A construction contract was signed in 2013 for a
line from
Petrie to
Kippa Ring, opening in October 2016. Other urban line proposals include
Cross River Rail to increase inner city capacity, a 'New Beaudesert' line by converting the existing
standard gauge line to dual gauge from Salisbury to Bromelton (west of
Beaudesert, the rural branch line to there closed in 1993), and the Beerwah-
Maroochydore railway line. ==Key network growth chronology==