Sunshine Coast line, Queensland

Sunshine Coast line
Sunshine Coast line
	Landsborough station in September 2012
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Queensland Rail
Locale	Sunshine Coast
Termini	Roma Street; Gympie North;
Stations	29
Website	queenslandrail.com.au
Service
Type	Interurban commuter rail
System	Queensland Rail Citytrain network
Operator	Queensland Rail
Rolling stock	IMU (Gympie North & Nambour); SMU260/NGR (Nambour)
Technical
Line length	180 km (110 mi)
Track length	172.21 km (107.01 mi)
Number of tracks	Quadruple to Northgate, triple to Petrie, double to Beerburrum, remainder single track with passing loops.
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1988
Operating speed	140 km/h (87 mph)
Route map
Route map
v; t; e; Sunshine Coast line
	Legend
	Mary Valley Rattler
	to Amamoor
	Maroochydore line
	(proposed)
Gympie Road
	3
	2
	2
	1
Nundah	1
Wooloowin	1
	Beenleigh, Cleveland,
	and Gold Coast lines
	Ipswich/Rosewood,
	and Springfield lines
Key
	Gympie North service
	does not stop

The Sunshine Coast line is an interurban commuter railway line in South East Queensland. Operated by Queensland Rail, the line runs for 173 kilometres (107 miles) from Gympie North to Roma Street, where services continue on the Ipswich/Rosewood line.

History

The North Coast railway line reached the Sunshine Coast area in 1890. In 1988, the section of the line was electrified for electric multiple units. Today, the Sunshine Coast railway line uses interurban passenger services operated by Citytrain.

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 (8.7 mi) double-track alignment from Caboolture to Beerburrum opened. A four kilometre section 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.^[1]^[2]^[3]

In 2009, the platforms at Mooloolah, Palmwoods, Woombye, Eudlo, Eumundi, Pomona and Cooran were extended with scaffolding and plywood materials.^[4] Initially intended as an interim arrangement until permanent extensions were built, the temporary platforms remain.^[5]

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.^[6] In September 2024, a John Holland / Seymour Whyte consortium was awarded a contract to deliver stage 1 of the project. This will include duplication of the line between Beerburrum and Beerwah and straightening the line between Beerburrum and Glass House Mountains. Construction is to commence in 2025.^[7]^[8] There is also a proposed line from Beerwah To Caloundra and the Queensland government has set aside A$1.44 billion in funding for construction.

Network and operations

Nambour and Gympie North services use 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 Petrie, 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,^[9] Spirit of the Outback^[10] and the Bundaberg and Rockhamption Tilt Trains^[11] traverse the line, along with Aurizon and Pacific National freight trains.

Services

Trains to and from Nambour typically run express between Petrie and Bowen Hills, with stops at Northgate and Eagle Junction.^[12] Trains to and from Gympie North skips stations between Caboolture and Bowen Hills stopping only at Petrie and Northgate.

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.^[12] Passengers for/from the Redcliffe Peninsula line change at Petrie, Shorncliffe line at Northgate, Airport and Doomben lines change at Eagle Junction and Ferny Grove lines change at Bowen Hills, and all other lines at Central.

Stations

Station	Suburb	Opened	Terrain	Time
Roma Street	Brisbane	14 June 1875	Ground level	0
Central	Brisbane	18 August 1889	Underground	2^[a]
Fortitude Valley	Fortitude Valley	1 November 1890	Underground	6
Bowen Hills	Bowen Hills	1973	Ground level	8
Eagle Junction	Clayfield	1882	Ground level	13
Northgate	Northgate	1882	Ground level	17
Petrie	Petrie	1888	Ground level	33
Dakabin	Kurwongbah	1888	Ground level	37
Narangba	Narangba	1888	Ground level	40
Burpengary	Burpengary	June 1888	Ground level	45
Morayfield	Morayfield	1888	Ground level	49
Caboolture	Caboolture	June 1889	Ground level	53
Elimbah	Elimbah	1890	Ground level	59
Beerburrum	Beerburrum	1890	Ground level	64
Glasshouse Mountains	Glass House Mountains	1890	Ground level	72
Beerwah	Beerwah	1890	Ground level	78
Landsborough	Landsborough	1890	Ground level	84
Mooloolah	Mooloolah Valley	1891	Ground level	90
Eudlo	Eudlo	1891	Ground level	96
Palmwoods	Palmwoods	1891	Ground level	102
Woombye	Woombye	1891	Ground level	107
Nambour	Nambour	January 1891	Ground level	112
Yandina	Yandina	30 December 1890	Ground level	122
Eumundi	Eumundi	1988	Ground level	129
Cooroy	Cooroy	17 July 1891	Ground level	137
Pomona	Pomona	1891	Ground level	146
Cooran	Cooran	10 June 1889	Ground level	154
Traveston	Traveston	1889	Ground level	163
Gympie North	Victory Heights	4 February 1989	Ground level	180