Rail track closure this weekend

Rail users are being urged to plan their travel in advance this weekend (April 27-28) with a major track closure happening so Queensland Rail can carry out essential rail maintenance and improvement work.

All Northern lines, except Ferny Grove, will be closed from the first service on Saturday, April 27 to the last service on Sunday, April 28.

Trains will resume as normal from the first service on Monday, April 29.

Queensland Rail Head of South East Queensland Neil Backer says there will be alternative transport in place in the form of rail buses during the closure that was planned more than eight months ago.

“This closure will impact the Airport, Caboolture, Doomben, Redcliffe Peninsula, Shorncliffe and Sunshine Coast lines,” Neil says.

“We will have timetabled railbuses running to help customers get to where they need to be. These railbuses will run from Bowen Hills to Gympie North, Airport, Shorncliffe, Kippa Ring and Doomben stations, but please allow extra travel time.

“Our crews will use the closure for essential line maintenance, graffiti removal, vegetation control, platform and station maintenance and waterways inspections.

“We’re also doing overhead line equipment maintenance, ballast undercutting, track resurfacing and progressing important elements for our station upgrade at Banyo, where screw piling and platform works will be underway.

“A number of Northern line stations will also undergo painting, cleaning and roof maintenance.”

Neil thanks the community for their patience and understanding.

“For our crews to be able to safely access the rail corridor to carry out this critical maintenance we need to ensure there are no trains running and many of these tasks need longer timeframes than our usual evening windows between last train and first train,” he says.

“Our rail network is transforming, and Queensland Rail is working hard to facilitate access to the tracks for important projects such as Cross River Rail. In addition, the regular maintenance and improvement works will ensure these lines will continue to connect communities safely and efficiently and we thank the community for their understanding.

“We understand there are a number of sporting and entertainment events on this weekend and we apologise for the inconvenience caused.

“Translink have been engaging with event organisers at Suncorp Stadium, the Brisbane Entertainment Centre and People First Stadium Gold Coast to ensure they are aware of the impacts and that there are suitable transport options, including extra buses waiting at the venues once the event wraps up.

“We work hard to schedule these closures around periods of the least inconvenience to ensure we are running trains during major events like Riverfire and New Year’s Eve.”

More information on the track closure is on Translink’s website. Customers should plan their journeys using Translink’s Journey Planner and allow extra travel time.