Queensland Rail

Type	Statutory authority
Industry	Rail transport
Founded	1865
Headquarters	Brisbane, Australia
Area served	Queensland
Key people	Stephen Gregg, Chairman Jim Benstead, Acting CEO
Services	railway network access, logistics, commuter, long-distance
Revenue	$1,932 m (2011/12)
Operating income	$692m (2011/12)
Profit	$128m (2011/12)
Employees	7,312 (2011/12)
Website	www.queenslandrail.com.au

Queensland Rail Transit Authority, also known as QR, is a railway operator in the state of Queensland. 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.

Pre-History

A prospectus for the private "Moreton Bay Tramroad Company Limited", with the intention of building a line from Ipswich to Toowoomba was advertised on 7 June 1861, but was still born.

History

Queensland Rail was formed in 1865 to become Australia’s largest rail and transport enterprise.

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 coal haulage 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 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 from 1 July 2010.

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 railcars, 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.

Queensland Rail aims to operate 99.75% of peak services and to have 94.5% of those services running no longer than four minutes late.

See also: Railways in South East Queensland

Long Distance Trains

Queensland Rail provides long range passenger rail services throughout Queensland. Its flagships are the electric and diesel Tilt Trains, from Brisbane to Rockhampton and Cairns respectively. Queensland Rail also operates diesel-locomotive-hauled services between Brisbane and Cairns as The Sunlander, Brisbane to Longreach as Spirit of the Outback, Townsville to Mount Isa as The Inlander and Brisbane to Charleville as The Westlander.

Traveltrain's annual patronage is approximately 969,000. Whilst proportionately smaller than other regional rail services, relative to population, this is largely as Traveltrain caters to a touring market more so than other operators. In 2007–08, the subsidy for the Brisbane-Cairns route was $130 million, or $900 per passenger. In 2001–02 it was $270.

Queensland Rail runs tourist trains between Normanton and Croydon as The Gulflander, Cairns to Kuranda as the Kuranda Scenic Railway, and Cairns to Forsayth as The Savannahlander.

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
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 and 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
Traveltrain fleet
Electric Tilt Train		Tilting electric multiple unit	160	1998	2	North Coast line
Diesel Tilt Train		Tilting diesel multiple unit	160	2003	2 + 1 under construction	North Coast line
Tourist train fleet
DL class		Diesel locomotive	50	1961	1		DL4 backup for the Gulflander
1720 class		Diesel locomotive	100	1966–1970	5	Kuranda Scenic Railway
45 hp rail motor		Railmotor	40	1931	1		Based at Normanton, used for charters.
102 hp rail motor		Railmotor	50	1950	1	Gulflander
1800 class		Railmotor (trailers)	50	1952–1954	2	Gulflander
2000 class		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		No. 732 being overhauled.
AC16 class		Steam locomotive	80	1943	1		No. 221A operational.
C17 class		Steam locomotive	80	1920–1953	2		No. 974 being overhauled. No. 1000 being restored to working order.
DD17 class		Steam locomotive	80	1948–1952	1		No. 1051 being overhauled
BB18¼ class		Steam locomotive	80	1950–1958	2		Nos. 1079 and 1089 operational.
Beyer-Garratt		Steam locomotive	80	1950–1951	1		No. 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 operational. 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.
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 an inspection vehicle.
2000 class		Railmotor	80	1956–1971	8		2034, 2036 and 2057 operational, also used as inspection vehicles. 2004, 2005, 2024, 2031 and 2032 stored.

See also

• Rail transport in Queensland

External links

• Queensland Rail
• TransLink