Rail transport in Queensland

The railway in Queensland consists mainly of routes, operated by QR Limited, a privately organized, but in the ownership of the Australian state of Queensland Railways. In addition, there are private cars, belonging to mining, industrial or agricultural enterprises.

• 3.1 Vehicles
• 3.2 Remote Access
• 3.3 Tourist Railways
• 3.4 cane railways

Network

Basic structure

The first railway line in Queensland was opened on 25 April 1865 by Ipswich to Grandchester and 1876 extended to Brisbane. He subsequently produced a series of random tracks from some of considerable length, which opened up ports on the coast of the hinterland. As of 1867 reversed the web from Rockhampton, west of Townsville in 1882. Basic economic rationale was to find living from livestock communities of the hinterland access to seaports. Only later did the paths were connected by a parallel -to-coast extending track. The last of the spurs was not until 1903 that connected to the network, so its comb-shaped structure was a main route along the coast from Brisbane to the north, with branches off to the west stitch lines. Today, the narrow gauge network in Queensland is one of the largest in the world.

Gauge

Prior to the merger of the Australian colonies to the state in 1901 they were legally independent of each other and the decision on the gauge, in which the respective railway should be built affair of the individual colony. In Queensland, which was sparsely populated and economically weaker than the more southern colonies, the decision was made in favor of the Cape gauge. This was cheaper in construction and allowed smaller curve radii. By a narrow majority, the Parliament of Queensland in 1863 opted for this technical solution. This one went then assume that the maximum speed at about 30 km / h would be sufficient and this system safe for the next 100 years.

The major technical difficulties, resulting from the crossing of the Great Dividing Range through a rail line were quickly mastered. Early as 1867 reversed the trains to Toowoomba. Here the work was at the track also benefits a wave of immigration that took care of the construction sites of the web with sufficient manpower.

On the southern border of the state, however, the railway came in 1888 in the lane-changing station Wallangarra on the standard gauge rail network of New South Wales, where travelers change and had to be transhipped goods. The used today, shorter and Brisbane to completely standard gauge track has been around since 1930. Their railway infrastructure owned by the State of Queensland, during the operation led by railways in New South Wales. The freight on this route went 1994 on the National Rail Cooperation, today the Pacific National performs. The passenger today offers CountryLink.

Extension

An electrification of routes in Queensland only since the late 1970s. The train from Brisbane was electrified in 1979 and 1986 began the electrical traction for coal transportation in Central Queensland. The distance from Brisbane to Rockhampton was electrified in 1989.

In 2001, the connection from Brisbane to the airport in operation. This connection, called the " Airtrain ", was built in an operator model, which provides that the private owner and operator of this route must transfer operation to the state after 35 years. This is thus one of the few routes in Queensland, where private rail transport services for third parties to offer on its own route

Organization

The main lines and some of the branching off secondary roads in Queensland were built by the state and by a national railway, the Queensland Rail operated. Queensland Rail founded 2005, the freight subsidiary QR National and began transporting coal in the Hunter Valley. In the same year the CRT Group was incorporated and took over the Australian Railroad Group 2006. Queensland Rail was re-organized under private law in 2007 as QR Limited. The proportions of these GmbH, however, remained completely state-owned.

On 1 July 2010, the commercial operation of the company was removed and separated from the passenger rail defined as a public task and summarized in a company called QR National Limited, to sell them.

Since 2005, other railway companies ride on the rail network in Queensland. First company was the Pacific National.

Operation

Rolling stock

The locomotives for the opening of the first track in 1865 came from the Avonside Engine Company, Bristol, England.

QR Limited decreed on 30 June 2008 on 717 locomotives.

Long-distance connections

Long-distance transport is offered by Travel Train, a subdivision of QR Limited. The tourist segment in the volume of traffic is high. Specifically, these are:

• Tilting trains ( " QR Tilt Train "). A train of this type is 1999 with 210 km / h the Australian speed record for trains. These trains have been around since 1998: EMUs in the link Brisbane - Rockhampton
• DMUs in the compound Brisbane Cairns

Tourist Railways

Tracks of pure tourism traffic are:

• The Gulflander, island operation between Normanton and Croydon is only opened to tourists, completely isolated from the rest of the network railway line in the north of Queensland.
• The Kuranda Scenic Railway between Cairns and Kuranda
• The Savannahlander between Cairns and Forsayth

Sugar cane railways

In Queensland there are about 20 networks of cane railways, usually in a track width of 610 mm. These correspond to each sugar factory and some have an high technical standard with a continuous train brake and the routes are partially laid on concrete sleepers. These tracks cooperate with each other, even when the networks are not connected. In the state of greatest expansion, there were about 3200 km distances of these pathways. At least on one of the tracks, the Mossmann Mills was of public persons and goods offered. From this orbit, a section is preserved as a museum railway.