Rail transport in Queensland

Queensland Rail B12 class steam locomotive No. 14 on the Central Line in 1878.

Queensland Rail SMU 265 at Nambour station on 10 March 2009.

Queensland Rail heritage locos of the PB15, C17 and BB18¼ classes haul a special train for the 125th anniversary of QR on the Little Liverpool Range west of Grandchester, July 1990.

Northbound Spirit of Capricorn service at Bundaberg station, ~1989

3903 hauls a special train east of Emerald on the Central Line, over the Nogoa River bridge, September 1989.

The rail network in Queensland, Australia, was the first in the world to adopt 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge for a main line, and, in 2013, was claimed to the second largest narrow gauge network in the world,^[1] consists of:

• the North Coast Line (NCL) extending 1,680 kilometres (1,040 mi) from Brisbane to Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns
• Four east–west lines (and associated branch lines) connecting to the NCL:
  • the Western line (including the Main Line) from Brisbane to Toowoomba and Charleville
  • the Central Western line from Rockhampton to Longreach and Winton
  • the Great Northern Railway from Townsville to Mount Isa
  • the Tablelands line from Cairns to Atherton and Forsayth
• Four export coal networks:
  • Moura to Gladstone
  • Blackwater to Gladstone utilising the Central Western and NCL lines
  • Goonyella to Hay Point
  • Newlands to Abbot Point
• the original narrow-gauge Southern line that provided a rail connection to Sydney, extending from Toowoomba to the New South Wales border at Wallangarra, plus the South Western line west from Warwick to Thallon;
• Two lines extending south of Brisbane, a 140 km/h (87 mph) narrow gauge passenger line from Brisbane to the Gold Coast, and a 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) line to the New South Wales border connecting to the line to Sydney
• the isolated Normanton to Croydon line, now operated as a tourist service as The Gulflander
• There was also an isolated section running from Cooktown to Laura with proposed destination of Maytown on the Palmer River goldfields. (Has since been removed)
• An isolated 19 kilometres (12 mi) 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) private freight line at Weipa hauling bauxite from a mine to the export terminal; and
• Over 3,000 km of 2 ft (610 mm) gauge sugar cane lines servicing 19 sugar mills (see Tramways section below).

Passenger services are provided by:

• Long distance trains from:
  • Brisbane to Cairns
  • Townsville to Mount Isa
  • Brisbane to Rockhampton and Longreach
  • Brisbane to Charleville
  • Brisbane to Sydney by the standard gauge XPT
• the Brisbane-centric Translink network providing services:
  • south to Beenleigh and Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast
  • north to Ferny Grove, Shorncliffe, Kippa-Ring, Caboolture and Gympie;
  • east to the Brisbane Airport and Doomben on the north side of the Brisbane River and to Cleveland on the south side of the river; and
  • west to Ipswich, Springfield and Rosewood.

The Translink network consists of approximately 300 route km and 151 stations.^[2]