Beenleigh railway line

Beenleigh line
QR SMU 239 arriving at South Brisbane railway station bound for Beenleigh
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Queensland Rail
Termini	Park Road Beenleigh
Stations	22
Website	queenslandrail.com.au
Service
Type	Commuter rail
Services	8
Route number	BDVL; BNBD; BRBN; BRVL; DBBN; FGBN; VLBR; VLDB
Operator(s)	Queensland Rail
Technical
Line length	41.595 km (25.846 mi)
Track length	41.595 km (25.846 mi)
Number of tracks	Triple to Kuraby, double to Beenleigh.
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1982–1984

v t e Beenleigh railway line
Legend
km other QR City services Exhibition line 2.7 Bowen Hills 1.3 Fortitude Valley 0.0 Central 0.8 Roma Street Exhibition line Ipswich/Rosewood and Springfield lines Pacific Motorway Brisbane River 2.6 South Brisbane 3.5 South Bank 4.3 Gloucester Street 5.1 Park Road Port of Brisbane line standard gauge flyover Wooloongabba Branch Cleveland line QR Services Depot 5.9 Dutton Park Fairfield (original) 7.1 Fairfield 8.5 Yeronga 9.3 Yeerongpilly Zone 1 2 Tennyson Line (to Ipswich line) 10.6 Moorooka Clapham (freight depot) 11.6 Rocklea Pradella Sidings (standard gauge) Brisbane Blue Metal Co branch Nyanda 13.0 Salisbury Interstate line to Sydney freight line to Brisbane MUT 15.2 Coopers Plains 16.7 Banoon 17.6 Sunnybank 18.6 Altandi 19.8 Runcorn 20.0 Tarragun 21.2 Fruitgrove Gateway Motorway 22.5 Kuraby 25.8 Trinder Park 26.8 Woodridge 29.5 Kingston Zone 2 3 Logan Motorway 32.2 Loganlea Logan River 35.2 Bethania Beaudesert line 36.9 Edens Landing 39.1 Holmview 39.6 Beenleigh (original) 40.1 Beenleigh Zone 3 4 South Coast line (1889–1964) Gold Coast line (1996–present)

The Beenleigh railway line is a suburban railway line extending 40.1 km from Park Road railway station to Beenleigh railway station. It is part of the Queensland Rail Citytrain network.

History

Further information: Rail transport in Queensland

Originally known as the Logan railway line, the line opened to Loganlea in April 1885 ^{[1] [2]} being the first section of the South Coast line which was opened beyond Beenleigh to Southport in 1889.

The original city terminus of the line was Stanley St, South Brisbane until a dual track line was constructed from Dutton Park to South Brisbane opposite the Victoria Bridge opening in 1891. ^[3]

The railway originally approximately paralleled Fairfield Road between Dutton Park and Yeronga. Following the 1893 Brisbane flood, the Fairfield Deviation realigned the route above the flood level onto the current alignment. ^[4] The line from Dutton Park to Yeerongpilly was duplicated at the same time.

The standard gauge line from Sydney, NSW which opened in 1930 was built parallel to the line from Salisbury to South Brisbane.

The section from Yeerongpilly to Kuraby was duplicated between 1950 and 1952. ^[5]

With increasing popularity of the motor car, the South Coast line was closed beyond Beenleigh in 1964.

The opening of the Merivale Bridge in 1978 connected the Beenleigh (and Cleveland) line to the Brisbane CBD, and the line was electrified in 1982. The Merivale Bridge was converted to dual gauge in 1986 and standard gauge passenger trains now terminate at Roma St.

The Gold Coast line was progressively rebuilt on a new alignment south of Beenleigh from 1996. The section from Kuraby to Beenleigh was duplicated in association with the re-establishment of the Gold Coast line in 1995. The standard gauge line was converted to dual gauge and electrified at the same time, creating a third track as far as Salisbury. The third track was later extended from Salisbury to Kuraby in 2008.

Line guide and services

Most services stop at all stations to Roma Street railway station. The typical travel time between Beenleigh and Brisbane City is approximately 59 minutes (to Central). From 2025 the line will utilize Cross River Rail and stop at the three new stations in the inner city. ^[6]

Beenleigh line services typically continue as Ferny Grove line services.

Passengers for/from the Gold Coast line change at either South Bank, Altandi, Loganlea or Beenleigh; Cleveland line change at Park Road; Ipswich and Rosewood lines at Roma Street; and all other lines at Central.

Gallery

• 
  Passengers, leaving the New South Wales Railways carriage on the right side, transferring to a Queensland train on the left at Clapham Junction, Moorooka, probably during WW2
• 
  First train to Sydney passing Fairfield, 1930
• 
  NSWR loco 8025 and another haul the Sydney bound 'Brisbane Limited' past the former Gloucester Road station site, 1987
• 
  Fairfield railway station, 2012
• 
  QR loco 2400 hauls an empty Sunlander consist through Yeronga station (in order to turn the train), 1987. The station has since been replaced with a brick structure
• 
  NSWR loco 44216 and another haul the northbound 'Brisbane Limited' across the Corinda line at Yeerongpilly, 1987
• 
  QR loco 2493 hauls a short container train across the Standard Gauge line to Sydney at Yeerongpilly station, 1987. Note the Standard Gauge loco shed in the background
• 
  QR EMU unit 07 in original colour scheme on a Beenleigh bound train at Rocklea, ca.1987. Note the dual gauge rail on the third line

References

1. "THE MINISTER FOR WORKS AT LOGANLEA". The Brisbane Courier . Vol. XXXIX, no. 8, 501. Queensland, Australia. 9 April 1885. p. 5. Retrieved 1 September 2020– via National Library of Australia.
2. "Brisbane Suburb: Mount Gravatt - History of Mount Gravatt". ourbrisbane.com. 2000. Archived from the original on 21 January 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
3. Armstrong, J. & Kerr, J. 'Destination South Brisbane' ARHS 1978
4. "THE FAIRFIELD DEVIATION". The Brisbane Courier. 7 August 1895.
5. Kerr, J. 'Triumph of Narrow Gauge' Boolarong Publications 1990
6. Stone, Lucy (2 August 2022). "Gold Coast, Beenleigh rail users face major changes as Brisbane's Cross River Rail network is revealed". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 4 August 2022.

External links

• Queensland Rail
• "South East Queensland Train Network Map" (PDF). Translink . 1 May 2020.