Queensland Rail

Queensland Rail

250px
SMU 265 at Nambour in March 2009
Industry	Railway operator
Founded	31 July 1865
Headquarters	Brisbane
Area served	Queensland
Key people	Helen Gluer CEO Michael Klug Chairman
Revenue	$1,932m (2011/12)
Operating income	$692m (2011/12)
Net income	$128m (2011/12)
Number of employees	7,312 (June 2012)
Parent	Government of Queensland
Website	queenslandrail.com.au

Queensland Rail, also known as QR, is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, Queensland Rail operates suburban and long-distance passenger services. It also owns and maintains approximately 8,000 kilometres of track in Queensland.

History

2470 class at Corinda in the original diesel livery in February 1998

Beginnings

Queensland Railways was the first operator in the world to adopt narrow gauge (in this case 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)) for a main line, and this remains the systemwide gauge within Queensland today.

The colony of Queensland separated from New South Wales in 1859, and the new government was keen to facilitate development and immigration. Improved transport to the fertile Darling Downs region situated west of Toowoomba was seen as a priority. As adequate river transport was already established between the capital Brisbane and the then separate settlement of Ipswich, the railway commenced from the latter locality and the initial section, built over relatively flat, easy country opened to Bigge's Camp, at the eastern base of the Little Liverpool Range, on 31 July 1865. Called the Main Line, the only significant engineering work on that section was the bridge over the Bremer River to North Ipswich.

Tunneling excavation through the Little Liverpool Range delayed the opening of the next section to Gatton by 10 months, but the line was opened to Toowoomba in 1867, the ascent of the Main Range being the reason for the adoption of narrow gauge.

Built by the Queensland government to the unusual (for the time) gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), the line largely followed the alignment surveyed by a private company, the Moreton Bay Tramway Company, which had proposed to build a 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) horse-drawn tramway but had been unable to raise funds to do so beyond an initial start on earthworks.

The adoption of narrow gauge was controversial at the time, and was largely predicated by the government's desire for the fastest possible construction timeframe at least cost. This resulted in adoption of sharper curves and a lower axle load than was considered possible using standard gauge, and an assessment at the time put the cost of a narrow gauge line from Ipswich to Toowoomba at 25% of the cost of a standard gauge line. In a colony with a non-indigenous population of 30,000 when the decision was made, it is understandable.

Queensland Rail went on to develop an extensive network of railways to facilitate the economic and social development of the state, totaling 10,500 km at its peak in 1932.

Changing transport patterns resulted in the closure of many development branch lines from 1948 onwards, but at the same time the main lines were upgraded to provide contemporary services, and from the 1970s an extensive network of new lines was developed, particularly to service export coal mines.

Electrification

Main article: Rail electrification in Queensland

EMU on the first electric service in Brisbane in November 1979

Commencing in November 1979 the Brisbane suburban network was electrified.

In 1978, discussions were commenced on possible electrification of the Blackwater and Goonyella coal networks. This was due to an expected increase in coal traffic across the networks, ageing diesel-electric locomotive fleet and the increase in diesel fuel costs. By early 1983, a decision had been made to electrify the networks and by early 1984 contracts were already starting to be let for the new locomotives and other works for the project. The decision was made to electrify with the 25 kV AC railway electrification system as used on the Brisbane suburban network. This would allow future connection of the Brisbane network with the coal networks via the North Coast line.

The project was to be carried out in four stages:

Stage 1: Electrification of the main line from Gladstone to Rockhampton, including parts of Rockhampton marshalling yard, then west to Blackwater and the coal mines in the area. This was a total of 720 kilometres (450 mi) of track.

Stage 2: Electrification of the coal lines south of Dalrymple Bay and Hay Point, then west through the Goonyella system, south-west to Blair Athol and south to Gregory – linking the Goonyella system to the Blackwater system. This was a total of 773 kilometres (480 mi) of track.

Stage 3: Electrification of the main western line from Burngrove to Emerald. This would allow electric freight from Rockhampton to Emerald.

Stage 4: Electrification of the line from Newlands coal mine to Collinsville and north-east to Abbott Point. This stage never went ahead. In 1986 it was decided to electrify the North Coast line between Brisbane and Gladstone instead and this became known as Stage 4.

Interstate expansion

In September 1999 Queensland Rail was rebranded as QR. In March 2002 Queensland Rail purchased Northern Rivers Railroad and rebranded it Interail, fulfilling a long held ambition of to expand beyond its state borders.

In March 2003 Queensland Rail entered the Hunter Valley coal market when Interail commenced a contract from Duralie Colliery to Stratford Mine. Another coal contract was won in late 2003 for the haulage of coal from Newstan Colliery, Fassifern to Vales Point Power Station. In 2004 Interail began running Brisbane to Melbourne and Sydney to Melbourne intermodal services. In June 2005 Queensland Rail acquired the CRT Group.

In June 2006 the Western Australian business of the Australian Railroad Group was purchased.

Privatisation

In June 2009 the Queensland Government announced the privatisation of Queensland Rail's freight business. This resulted in Queensland Rail's freight assets being transferred to QR National (now Aurizon) from 1 July 2010.

Commissioners

The Commissioners of the Queensland Railways included:

• 1864—1885: Arthur Orpen Herbert
• 1885—1889: F. Curnow
• 1889—1894: A. Johnston
• 1889—1896: John Mathieson
• 1889—1902: R. J. Gray
• 1902—1911: James Forsyth Thallon
• 1911: T. M. King
• 1911—1918: Barnard Charles Evans
• 1918— : J. W. Davidson

Services

City network

Main article: Citytrain

Queensland Rail, in partnership with TransLink, provides Urban and Interurban rail and bus services throughout South East Queensland. These rail services operate on eleven rail lines including Beenleigh, Caboolture, Cleveland, Doomben, Exhibition, Ferny Grove, Gold Coast, Gympie North, Ipswich-Rosewood, and Shorncliffe lines. Queensland Rail provides train services on these lines with its rolling stock of electric multiple units, which includes the Electric Multiple Units (EMU), the Suburban Multiple Units (SMU), the Interurban Multiple Units (IMU) and the InterCity Express (ICE).

Due to low patronage, lines such as the Pinkenba line have been closed and replaced by bus services known as a RailBus. During some times of the day trains on the Nambour line and Doomben line are also replaced by the RailBus.

See also: Railways in South East Queensland

Long-distance trains

Queensland Rail operate these long-range passenger rail services:

• Electric Tilt Train: Brisbane to Rockhampton
• Spirit of Queensland Tilt Train: Brisbane to Cairns
• Spirit of the Outback: Brisbane to Longreach
• The Inlander: Townsville to Mount Isa
• The Westlander: Brisbane to Charleville

Annual patronage for these services in 2011/12 was 795,000. In 2007/08, the subsidy for the Brisbane-Cairns route was $130 million, or $900 per passenger. In 2001/02 it was $270 million.

Queensland Rail also operate these tourist trains:

• Kuranda Scenic Railway: Cairns to Kuranda
• The Gulflander Normanton and Croydon
• The Savannahlander: Cairns to Forsayth

Fleet

Class	Image	Type	Top speed (km/h)	Built	Number	Routes operated	Notes
Citytrain fleet
EMU		Electric multiple unit	100	1979–1987	87	Citytrain network	All remaining 261 carriages are planned to be retired from Mid 2016 with the last one removed from service in December 2018, as they will be replaced with the New Generation Rollingstock
SMU200		Electric multiple unit	100	1994–1995	12	Citytrain network
SMU220		Electric multiple unit	100	1999–2001	30	Citytrain network
SMU260		Electric multiple unit	130	2008–2011	35	Citytrain network
ICE		Electric multiple unit	120	1988–1989	8	Nambour & Gympie North line
IMU100		Electric multiple unit	140	1996–1997	10	Citytrain network
IMU120		Electric multiple unit	140	2001–2002	4	Citytrain network
IMU160		Electric multiple unit	130	2004–2011	28	Citytrain network
Locomotive fleet
1720 class		Diesel locomotive	100	1966–1970	16	Kuranda Scenic Railway, Traveltrain services and infrastructure trains.
2150 class		Diesel locomotive	100	1966–1970	6	Traveltrain services and infrastructure trains.
2400 class		Diesel locomotive	100	1966–1970	5	Traveltrain services and infrastructure trains.
2470 class		Diesel locomotive	100	1980–1983	3	Traveltrain services and infrastructure trains.
DL class		Diesel locomotive	50	1961	1		DL4 backup for the Gulflander.
Traveltrain fleet
Electric Tilt Train		Tilting electric multiple unit	160	1997	2	North Coast line
Diesel Tilt Train		Tilting diesel multiple unit	160	2003, 2014	3	North Coast line
Tourist train fleet
45 hp rail motor	115px	Railmotor	40	1931	1		Based at Normanton, used for charters.
102 hp rail motor	115px	Railmotor	50	1950	1	Gulflander
1800 class	115px	Railmotor (trailers)	50	1952–1954	2	Gulflander
2000 class	115px	Railmotor	80	1956–1971	3	Savannahlander	Operated by private contractor.
Heritage fleet
A10 class		Steam locomotive	40	1865–1866	1		No 6 operational, Australia's oldest operational steam locomotive.
PB15 class		Steam locomotive	65	1899–1926	1		732 being overhauled.
AC16 class		Steam locomotive	80	1943	1		221A operational. (USATC S118 Class)
C17 class		Steam locomotive	80	1920–1953	2		974 operational, 1000 being restored to working order.
DD17 class		Steam locomotive	80	1948–1952	1		1051 restored to working order, currently under heavy overhaul.
BB18¼ class		Steam locomotive	80	1950–1958	2		1079 and 1089 operational.
Beyer-Garratt		Steam locomotive	80	1950–1951	1		1009 stored pending overhaul
DL class		Diesel locomotive	50	1939	1		On display at the Workshops Rail Museum
DH class		Diesel locomotive	50	1966	2		DH2 and DH71 stored.
1150 class		Diesel locomotive	80	1952	1		1159 stored pending restoration.
1170 class		Diesel locomotive	80	1956	1		1170 stored pending restoration.
1250 class		Diesel locomotive	80	1959	1		1262 on display at Workshops Rail Museum
1270 class		Diesel locomotive	80	1964	2		1270 stored pending restoration, 1281 on display at Workshops Rail Museum.
1400 class		Diesel locomotive	80	1955	1		1407 stored pending restoration.
1450 class		Diesel locomotive	80	1957	3		1450, 1455 and 1459 stored pending restoration.
1460 class		Diesel locomotive	80	1964	1		1461 stored pending restoration.
1600 class		Diesel locomotive	80	1962	1		1603 stored pending restoration.
1620 class		Diesel locomotive	80	1967	1		1620 operational.
1900 class		Railmotor	80	1956	1		1901 operational, also used as a track inspection vehicle.
2000 class	115px	Railmotor	80	1956–1971	6		2034, 2036 and 2057 operational, also used as inspection vehicles. 2005, 2024 and 2031 stored.
Special cars
		Vice-Regal Car	80	1903	1		Car 445 is a special saloon retained for use by the Governor of Queensland and is still considered a working item of rollingstock in the QR fleet, however it is on permanent loan to the Workshops Rail Museum.

¹ This table only includes locomotives owned by Queensland Rail. QR also hires locomotives from Aurizon as required.

See also

• Rail transport in Queensland

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons
• Queensland Rail
• TransLink
• Works by Queensland Railways at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)