Nambour and Gympie North railway line

This article is about the Nambour & Gympie North railway line, which is the existing Sunshine Coast Citytrain service. For proposed railway to Maroochydore, Queensland (CAMCOS), see Maroochydore railway line.
Nambour & Gympie North line
Overview
Termini Roma Street
Gympie North
Website queenslandrail.com.au
Technical
Line length 180 km (110 mi)
Track length 172.21 km (107.01 mi)
Track gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Operating speed 60 km/h (37 mph)

The Nambour & Gympie North railway line (also known as the Sunshine Coast line) refers to the section of Queensland's North Coast line that has regular interurban passenger services, which connect Brisbane with the Sunshine Coast and Gympie. It is the longest line on the Citytrain network.

Overview

Elimbah station in September 2012
Glasshouse Mountains station in September 2012

Nambour and Gympie North services utilise the Caboolture line to Caboolture, then the North Coast line to Nambour and Gympie North. The line consists of four tracks from Roma Street to Northgate, then three tracks to Lawnton, allowing Nambour & Gympie North express services to pass the local Caboolture services. The line is then double track to Beerburrum.

North of Beerburrum, the line is single track with passing loops at most stations. Due to the rapidly rising population on the Sunshine Coast and in hinterland towns, the annual compounded growth rate for morning peak passenger numbers on the line north of Caboolture is 6%, second only to the 7.1% figure for the Gold Coast line south of Beenleigh.

Traveltrain services; the Spirit of Queensland, Spirit of the Outback and the Bundaberg and Rockhamption Tilt Trains traverse the line, along with Aurizon and Pacific National freight trains.[1]

Upgrades

In 2001, the Queensland Government started a study for the need to upgrade the North Coast Line between Caboolture and Landsborough.

On 14 April 2009, a new 14 kilometre double-track alignment from Caboolture to Beerburrum opened. A four kilometre ssection of the old line immediately north of Caboolture was retained for use as a passing loop, with the remainder of the old line lifted. This saw new stations at Elimbah and Beerburrum built. Glasshouse Mountains, Beerwah and Landsborough stations have all received major work including platform extensions and lifts.[2][3] The line is scheduled to be duplicated to Landsborough by 2021.[4]

In 2009, the platforms at Mooloolah, Palmwoods, Woombye, Eudlo, Eumundi, Pomona and Cooran were extended with scaffolding and plywood materials.[5] Initially intended as an interim arrangement until permanent extensions were built, the temporary platforms remain.[6]

A study has been completed into duplicating and straightening the line between Landsbrough and Nambour. It is proposed that two new tunnels and four upgraded stations (Mooloolah, Eudlo, Palmwoods and Woombye) will be constructed.[7]

Line guide and services

All peak, off-peak and most weekend train services between Brisbane and Nambour run express between Caboolture and Northgate stations, stopping at Petrie station in the off-peak. Trains between Gympie North and Brisbane run express between Caboolture and Bowen Hills station.[8] Counter-Peak trains and a few selected weekend train services operate as a shuttle between Nambour and Caboolture only, with connecting train services to and/from the City at Caboolture station.

To relieve congestion on the section 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.[9] Passengers for/from the Caboolture line change at either Caboolture, Petrie or Northgate, Shorncliffe line at Northgate, Airport and Doomben change at Eagle Junction and Ferny Grove lines change at Bowen Hills, and all other lines at Central.

Nambour and Gympie North railway line
showing distance from Central, ticket zone, and connecting or nearby bus services
Beenleigh, Cleveland, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Rosewood, Tennyson lines
Exhibition line
0.8 km Roma Street(1) See Roma Street railway station
0.0 km CENTRAL(1) See Adelaide Street Bus Mall
1.3 km Fortitude Valley(1) See Fortitude Valley railway station
Exhibition line
2.7 km Bowen Hills(1) 301, 310, 315, 320, 393
Follows Caboolture line
9.9 km Northgate(2/3) 306, 307
Follows Caboolture line
27.4 km Petrie(6) 675, 680, 681, 682
Follows Caboolture line
49.6 km Caboolture(8) 640, 649, 652, 653, 654, 655, 662
Wamuran line (disused)
58.6 km Elimbah(9/10) 649
64.6 km Beerburrum(10) 649
71.8 km Glasshouse Mountains(11) 649
76.9 km Beerwah(12) 649, Australia Zoo bus
Maroochydore Line (proposed)
82.5 km Landsborough(13) 605, 615, 649
Dularcha National Park
87.5 km Mooloolah(14) 649
92.7 km Eudlo(15) 649
97.3 km Palmwoods(16) 639, 649
100.7 km Woombye(17) 610, 636, 639, 649
104.8 km Nambour(17) 602, 610, 630, 631, 636, 639, 649
Maroochy River
112.7 km Yandina(19) 631
Bruce Highway
122.5 km Eumundi(21) 630, 631
130.9 km Cooroy(22) 631, 632
139.9 km Pomona(23) 632
145.5 km Cooran(23) 632
150.3 km Traveston(23)
Mary Valley Heritage Railway to Imbil
Gympie
172.2 km GYMPIE NORTH(23) Gympie Courtesy Bus
North Coast Line to Cairns

References

  1. ↑ Timetable Queensland Rail 16 December 2014
  2. ↑ Landsborough station upgrade plans revealed Queensland Government 21 December 2006
  3. ↑ Caboolture to Beerburrum Duplication Queensland Rail
  4. ↑ Caboolture to Landsborough Rail Upgrade Study Department of Transport & Main Roads
  5. ↑ Works commence on North Coast platform extensions Queensland Rail 10 August 2009
  6. ↑ Travellers blast lack of funding Sunshine Coast Daily 2 February 2012
  7. ↑ "Landsborough to Nambour Rail Corridor Study". Queensland Government. 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2009.
  8. ↑ Sunshine Coast Line timetable Queensland Rail retrieved 5 June 2011
  9. ↑ Route 649 timetable Translink 20 January 2014