How It Was Then
Above is Queensland's rail network in 1925. Today's longer distance trains, for tourist travel mainly, can be compared with the above timetable cover.
It is the local services that have gone ...
... steam hauled mixed traffic trains with goods vans joining the single passenger coach.
As Brisbane grew, so did its suburbs and local routes.
Today's network was, for a while, branded 'Citytrain'. Here is the 1980 network ...
... with lines 2 and 3 being the equivalent of the two routes shown on the orange map above.
The first suburban line opened from the Ipswich township ...
... but could not make it all the way to Brisbane until a bridge across the river was opened.
The Albert Bridge arrived in 1895 and it still stands, very much in use ...
... but with later road and rail additions. It now has a less colonial name being the Indooroopilly Bridge names after the station seen in the above picture.
Last year a Heritage steam train was run over the pre-bridge route.
Electrification if the whole system was proposed in 1950 but abandoned in 1959 after a change of political colour!
The wires eventually arrived in 1979 with some shiny trains, a vast improvement on what went before.
The last of this stock was retired last year (2025).
How It Is Today
Antipodean train enthusiasts will recognise the different types of electric multiple unit operating in Brisbane.
They are similar ...
... but slightly different!
And new sets are on the way.
But there is something odd about these commuter trains.
Some of the interiors only have 2 + 1 seating; some are more conventional but with a very narrow gangway.
Then to accommodate wheelchairs only one-seat inward facing benches are on offer.
What is going on?
As the colonial territories began to develop, they were very precious about their particular train set. So different territorial areas in Oz chose their own gauges of track.
Through running, what's that?
Here is a map.
The black lines are standard gauge as in use internationally at 4 feet 8 and a half inches.
The orange lines are in the State of Victoria and have a distance between rails of 5 feet 3 inches, designated as broad gauge.
And so to Brisbane and Queensland in blue which has a gauge of three feet 6 inches - not metre gauge but good old UK measurements. We call it narrow gauge.
Here are the gauges in the new money.
So, at Roma Street station in Brisbane, 1435mm shares certain platform faces with 1067mm.
Timetables are line by line ...
So we have the Ferry Grove line ...
... which has a simple 15 minute frequency.
BNH is, obviously, Beenleigh, hence Beenleigh Line.
Clever, eh!
That seems a bit unfair on Beenleigh, does it not? Why does Beenleigh get less trains than Ferry Grove?
There may be an answer in tomorrow's blog!
One Oddity
Most maps show an unusual loop missing three of the busy city centre stops. Here's another version.
Only one station is sometimes shown in that loop, and here it is.
Not very busy is it?
Another reveal for tomorrow!
Next Brizzy Trains blog : Friday 14th Mar
