First of what I imagine will be several, potentially even many track closures this year.
Rail corridor work is planned between Beerburrum station and north of Beerwah station during a scheduled temporary closure of the North Coast Line on 31 January and 1 February 2026.
These works are to facilitate the Beerburrum to Nambour (B2N) Rail Upgrade (Stage 1) project which will increase the capacity and reliability of the North Coast Line, enabling more efficient travel and improved passenger and freight connections between the Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay, Brisbane and beyond.
Service relocations:
Relocation of services including Energex overhead line equipment near Barrs and Evans roads, Glass House Mountains and Caves Lane, Beerburrum between 6am and 6pm on both days, noting the Barrs Road level crossing will be closed between 6pm on Saturday and 5am on Sunday.
Fencing:
Relocation of existing rail corridor fence adjacent to Sportsground Drive and Beerwah Parade, Beerwah continuously between 6am on Saturday and 6pm on Sunday.
Vegetation clearing:
Clearing adjacent to existing rail corridor near Beerburrum Road/Old North Coast Road, north and south of Barrs Road level crossing, and south of Beerwah station towards Pikes Road between 6am and 6pm on both days – see maps below for clearing work areas.
Earthworks:
Rock-cutting activities within the rail corridor south of Barrs Road all hours on both days.
Drainage works:
Construct temporary access tracks adjacent to existing rail corridor north and south of Barrs Road level crossing and south of Beerwah station to facilitate drainage works between 6am and 6pm on both days.
In addition to the above, we got the first of what seems will be a monthly update leaflet in the mail for the northern and southern work zones outlining the works underway.
Heard from a work colleague today who catches the train from Beerwah each day is that stage 1 is moving along quite quickly. (Beerwah to Beerburrum new alignment and duplication).
It’s really cool to finally see a visualisation of how much extra straightening they’ve been able to squeeze into the existing rail corridor between Glasshouse and Beerwah.
Hard to judge from a render obviously but it also looks like the corridor on either side of the new tracks will be quite wide, hopefully this will play some part in reducing the risk of trees and branches falling onto the OHLE which is a big problem for the Sunshine Coast Line in storm season.
There was an extensive environmental impact study as well as consultation with the community over many years. The benefits of rail will far surpass the issues of a few trees being gone. Trees can also be replanted elsewhere in the area to off set the tree clearing claims.
What a massive missed opportunity to deliver a shared path/bikeway alongside the rail corridor (and/or rail trail using parts of the old alignment).
There was an extensive environmental impact study as well as consultation with the community over many years. The benefits of rail will far surpass the issues of a few trees being gone. Trees can also be replanted elsewhere in the area to off set the tree clearing claims.
While I support delivering B2N on a straighter alignment, I disagree that concerns about tree clearing for infrastructure projects should be swept aside.
The benefits of infrastructure projects need to be weighed against negatives, and both should be clearly communicated with the public prior to committing to a project.
Motorway upgrades frequently involve enormous volumes of tree clearing, often in environmentally sensitive areas. This is a huge negative associated with many road projects. If governments were transparent about both benefits and negatives prior to committing to a new project, we would likely see public outcry for many terrible projects that currently sail on through.
If you think environmental impacts should be seriously considered when deciding whether to proceed with a motorway project, then you also need to consider them for PT projects. You can’t just ignore them when it’s convenient.
I advocated for a sealed bike path along this corridor at the time. There was a map where you could pin point your feedback as well. Unfortunately it wasn’t included in the end.
I have to give credit where credit is due, every track closure has resulted in better and better replacement bus services during this B2N upgrade.
What started as 2 services (one all stops, one EXP) every 20 minutes for the first track possession, is now a service every 8 minutes on this latest closure, with sometimes multiple buses per timetabled ‘service’.
Services are also commencing at 4:20am with the last trip back to the city at 11:40pm which is as good, if not better than the trains that are being replaced. Great job TMR.
To be honest I can’t imagine we will see B2N stage 2 in the next decade or two.
Stage 1 was already hard enough to get over the line despite the fact that the wave can’t exist without dual tracks to Beerwah, stage 2 would require the government to want to improve less utilised commuter trains between Beerwah and Nambour as well as long distance passenger and freight services which I’m not convinced they will.
Stage 2 will also require a new tunnel under Dularcha National Park, upgrades of several rural road over rail bridges, and at least 4 station rebuilds, and after all that it would still be constrained by bad track geometry and rough terrain, causing low track speeds and minimal improvement to trip times. It would honestly almost be easier to tunnel from Mooloolah to Eudlo and then again to Palmwoods to avoid having to go over what you could almost call two small ranges. Some sources suggest potentially up to 100m of elevation gained and lost again.
Don’t get me wrong I would love to see it happen in my lifetime but it would be a massive infrastructure project that requires state and federal governments to have a long term vision (which Australia lacks).
