The Exhibition railway line is a special-purpose railway line in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It conveys Queensland Rail City network passengers during the Royal Queensland Show (locally known as "the Ekka") in August and rare other special events held in the showgrounds. It is informally known as the Ekka Loop.
Goods trains also use the Exhibition line to access the Normanby marshalling yard and to travel across Brisbane while avoiding city stations and congestion between Bowen Hills and Roma Street stations. QR Traveltrain long-distance passenger services similarly use the Exhibition line to arrive at and depart from Roma Street station. Empty City network and Traveltrain sets also use the line to access the Normanby train washing facility and the Mayne locomotive and electric depot.
When the Roma St to Sandgate railway opened in 1882, it had been constructed via Normanby to avoid the need for land resumptions through the Brisbane CBD.[1] When passenger trains were diverted to the new line via Central station in 1890, traffic diminished significantly, and the section between Exhibition station and Mayne along with Normanby station was closed in 1900.[2]
Traffic on the QR system continued to grow, and so the closed section was reopened in 1911 to allow goods trains from the North Coast line to use that route to reach Roma St, the main goods yard in Brisbane. When the locomotive and carriage sheds were relocated from Roma St to Mayne in 1927, the line was duplicated to deal with the additional empty trains travelling to and from Brisbane's main terminating station.
The line was electrified in 1982 to allow empty electric units to travel to and from Roma St.
In 2023, the line was realigned as part of the Cross River Rail project in what was described as one of the longest and most complicated pieces of track work ever undertaken in South East Queensland.[3] Works included a new 150-metre bridge outside the Brisbane Showgrounds.
Line guide and servicesedit
Services stop at city stations (Roma Street, Central and Fortitude Valley) before the loop leaves the main line in the middle of platform 4 of Bowen Hills, and therefore can not stop here for passengers. The service runs in both directions.
^Kerr, J. 'Triumph of Narrow Gauge' Boolarong Publications 1990
^Kerr, J. 'Brunswick St, Bowen Hills & Beyond' ARHS 1988
^Chan, Ray (5 April 2023). "Exhibition line realigned for bridge crossing". Rail Express. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
External linksedit
Queensland Rail
Translink
"South East Queensland Train Network Map" (PDF). Translink. 1 May 2020.
January 01, 1970
exhibition, railway, line, special, purpose, railway, line, brisbane, state, capital, queensland, australia, conveys, queensland, rail, city, network, passengers, during, royal, queensland, show, locally, known, ekka, august, rare, other, special, events, held. The Exhibition railway line is a special purpose railway line in Brisbane the state capital of Queensland Australia It conveys Queensland Rail City network passengers during the Royal Queensland Show locally known as the Ekka in August and rare other special events held in the showgrounds It is informally known as the Ekka Loop Exhibition lineOverviewWebsitequeenslandrail com auTechnicalTrack length3 4 km 2 1 mi Track gauge1 067 mm 3 ft 6 in Electrification1982 Goods trains also use the Exhibition line to access the Normanby marshalling yard and to travel across Brisbane while avoiding city stations and congestion between Bowen Hills and Roma Street stations QR Traveltrain long distance passenger services similarly use the Exhibition line to arrive at and depart from Roma Street station Empty City network and Traveltrain sets also use the line to access the Normanby train washing facility and the Mayne locomotive and electric depot Contents 1 History 2 Line guide and services 3 References 4 External linksHistory editWhen the Roma St to Sandgate railway opened in 1882 it had been constructed via Normanby to avoid the need for land resumptions through the Brisbane CBD 1 When passenger trains were diverted to the new line via Central station in 1890 traffic diminished significantly and the section between Exhibition station and Mayne along with Normanby station was closed in 1900 2 Traffic on the QR system continued to grow and so the closed section was reopened in 1911 to allow goods trains from the North Coast line to use that route to reach Roma St the main goods yard in Brisbane When the locomotive and carriage sheds were relocated from Roma St to Mayne in 1927 the line was duplicated to deal with the additional empty trains travelling to and from Brisbane s main terminating station The line was electrified in 1982 to allow empty electric units to travel to and from Roma St In 2023 the line was realigned as part of the Cross River Rail project in what was described as one of the longest and most complicated pieces of track work ever undertaken in South East Queensland 3 Works included a new 150 metre bridge outside the Brisbane Showgrounds Line guide and services editServices stop at city stations Roma Street Central and Fortitude Valley before the loop leaves the main line in the middle of platform 4 of Bowen Hills and therefore can not stop here for passengers The service runs in both directions Passengers for from the Airport Doomben Caboolture Ferny Grove Nambour and Gympie North and Shorncliffe lines change at Central or Fortitude Valley and Beenleigh Cleveland Gold Coast Ipswich and Rosewood lines at Roma Street Exhibition railway line Legend km nbsp Beenleigh Cleveland Gold Coast Ipswich amp Rosewood Tennyson lines nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 0 8 Roma Street 1 nbsp nbsp Normanby closed nbsp nbsp 0 0 Central 1 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 1 3 Fortitude Valley 1 nbsp nbsp 3 4 Exhibition nbsp nbsp Bowen Hills 2nd site nbsp nbsp Bowen Hills 1st site nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Bowen Hills nbsp nbsp nbsp Ferny Grove line nbsp nbsp nbsp Airport Caboolture Doomben Sunshine Coast and Shorncliffe linesReferences edit Kerr J Triumph of Narrow Gauge Boolarong Publications 1990 Kerr J Brunswick St Bowen Hills amp Beyond ARHS 1988 Chan Ray 5 April 2023 Exhibition line realigned for bridge crossing Rail Express Retrieved 21 April 2023 External links editQueensland Rail Translink South East Queensland Train Network Map PDF Translink 1 May 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Exhibition railway line amp oldid 1181567925, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
