Electrifying all major railways in Queensland? What is the feasibility and costs?

So I was thinking about how the current electrified sections of the QR network were electrified back in the 1980s for the purpose of increasing coal exports and I was wondering why no one seems to have seriously suggested electrifying more than that, not even any serious proposals as far as I am aware.

To be clear I am not asking about electrification of the QR long distance network for passenger trains when the only passenger railway services that are somewhat viable and not completely reliant on government subsidies are the tilt trains, and the spirit of Queensland.

I’m just wondering why it hasn’t been considered for the freight rail services, from my understanding the Bruce highway and the north coast line are pretty competitive with each other and with the plan to increase upgrades for the Bruce Highway isn’t it time to consider electrifying the rest of the north coast line at least so that there is a more environmentally friendly option for land freight? I’m guessing such a project wouldn’t have an especially high BCR but still I think its odd that I haven’t found anything even suggesting it so I would really be happy to hear from someone who is more familiar with freight rail in Queensland to shed some light on this.

Thanks,

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I would love them to electrify all the way to Cairns as well as build new tunnels together with realignment, duplication and additional passing loops.

The Kuranda Scenic Rail should also be electrified.

I don’t know what the average speed is between Townsville and Cairns but it would be nice to have an average speed of 130kph or more.

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I reckon if they moved more freight to rail Aldi would likely expand their roll out further North to Cairns.

Note the dates those coal network electrifications took place - they would have all been approved during the Bjelke-Petersen years. Not to cast political assertions one way or another, but in the years that followed, attitudes towards the regional rail network certainly shifted.

Outside new passenger lines in the greater SEQ region, I don’t think anyone has seriously put forward a proposal for further electrification since then.

In fact, lines have been de-sparked over the years. Blackwater - Emerald (i.e. beyond the Aurizon network) has the infrastructure, but is not powered anymore. QR itself retains no electric locomotives that could be used for shunting or hauling the carriage-hauled services.

The incentive for Aurizon to spark any of its other systems (Moura, Newlands etc.) seems limited.

The case could be made for the North Coast Line north of Rockhampton I think, but if I were to choose between re-alignments to bring the speed up to a minimum of 100kph freight running outside population centres (possibly Tilt 120/140/160 if workable) and electrification, I’d probably take the former in the first instance. As I’ve maintained in other threads, the sub-60kph average speed between Townsville and Cairns is diabolical.

Although, you ask the residents of Rockhampton if they’d like overhead lines running down Denison St as part of the train line, and you might get some colourful answers.

For other systems:

The challenge for the Main Line/West Moreton System is that it will become, at least in part, a component of inland rail in future (maybe), which is not intended to be electrified. The current Toowoomba range railway has an average speed of about 25kph (see: 1hr 50-ish minutes from Toowoomba to Helidon) and the tunnels are far too short for wires, and some are heritage listed. It would be an enormous challenge to spark the current range railway, even in the parts not captured by Inland Rail (not to mention the line speed makes it a poor investment overall, better to focus on a new corridor).

Traffic on the southern/south-west/western lines and branches probably does not justify the expense (so that’s Warwick/Stanthorpe/Goondiwindi/Thallon/Charleville). Toowoomba - Miles maybe because of the volume of coal traffic (6x trains daily typically). The Millmerran branch (currently open to Brookstead grain silos) will become, in large part, part of Inland Rail under current plans. Most other branches have already closed (Glenmorgan as far as Meandarra might be all that’s open now, but some are only listed as ā€˜out of use’ rather than fully closed).

Traffic on the central west line beyond Aurizon territory (Blackwater - Longreach/Winton) almost certainly doesn’t justify the effort or expense.

I’d be dubious about the Mt Isa line as well.

I’m not sure the Kuranda line is suitable for electrification. The number of small tunnels and other geographical limitations would necessitate an enormous cost. I’m all for sustainability projects though, so perhaps hydrogen or battery locomotives might be suitable for this tourist line. As far as I am aware, no freight goes north of Cairns. Which in itself is a shame, because a perfectly good station at Mareeba, a hub for agriculture on the Atherton Tablelands, is slowly falling apart.

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Yeah if I can choose between spending $billions on electrifying new parts of the railway or the same money on anything else that makes rail more competitive against the Bruce, I’m picking the other option. Getting freight off the road and onto rail, even diesel rail, is still a huge win in many many ways.

(Just two examples close to home include the range crossings to Toowoomba, or the Sunshine Coast hinterland upgrade.)

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I would definitely prefer to double track and upgrade the NCL to at least Rocky, with subsequent stages focusing first on Cairns to Townsville and finish from there.

If we need rolling stock to avoid running diesel over the wires we should be having a serious look at dual mode locos or power cars.

DMTT: Dual Mode Tilt Train. Electric from RST to ROK and diesel onwards.

Ultimately, the Townsville/Mount Isa rail line will be completely rebuilt, dual gauge! Could still form part of the northern ā€œInland Railā€ style project and taken westward from Mount Isa to Tennant Creek. BIG things ahead for minerals in the NW Minerals Province.

I agree - the Kuranda line is simply is not suitable for electrification.

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The case could be made for the North Coast Line north of Rockhampton I think, but if I were to choose between re-alignments to bring the speed up to a minimum of 100kph freight running outside population centres (possibly Tilt 120/140/160 if workable) and electrification, I’d probably take the former in the first instance. As I’ve maintained in other threads, the sub-60kph average speed between Townsville and Cairns is diabolical.

That makes sense but I am wondering if electrification could be undertaken along with a comprehensive upgrade program of the north coast line, because I feel like any significant upgrade program would already cost a massive amount that it would make sense to do electrification at the same time, would electrifying really add all that much cost to such a massive undertaking like track duplication, earthworks, level crossings, from what I understand Victoria and NSW are stuck with dc electrification which is much more expensive to build out over very long distances compared to the current AC electrification in QLD. Which is why I find it so odd when so many actors, political and non political are constantly bringing up and making proposals for high speed rail on the east coast but nothing more than forum posts for further QLD rail electrification.

The question of added cost if done as a single ā€˜superproject’ I think is unclear.

Speed upgrades are a factor of things like proportion of curves, strength of rail, sleepers, accessibility to passing loops for two-way traffic, road/rail interfaces and cane tram interfaces - essentially not all the track (presumably) requires upgrading.

Electrification is continuous for the entire length.

So I guess the first step to explore that question is how much track needs replacing to achieve a stated speed target? I’d like to think 100kph for double header freight trains and an average Tilt 140 (where some T160 and T120 can be used to achieve the outcome) is a respectable goal.

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Darwin - tennent ck - mt isa - townsville - gladstone - stuart basin line - inland at toowoomba i think its whats the darwin to syd link will be made fastwr

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