The proposal is to elevate the rail line between where the freight rail branches for the Port of Brisbane and Gordan Parade just prior to Manly Station.
This elevated rail would eliminate 3 level crossings and 3 problematic low-clearance rail-over-road bridges:
Wynnum North Road Level Crossing
Wynnum Road Level Crossing
Burke Street Low-Clearance Bridge - 2.1 Metres
Colina Street Low-Clearance Bridge - 1.9 Metres
Ronald Street Level Crossing
Pine Street Low-Clearance Bridge - 2.8 Metres
The project would also provide accessibility upgrades to Wynnum North Station and Wynnum Central Station through full rebuilds.
Proposed Removal of Wynnum Station
The spacing between Wynnum Central Station, Wynnum Station, and Wynnum North Station is extremely small. This slows down travel time and also reduces the number of stations an express pattern is able to skip with a single pair of tracks.
The proposal would see Wynnum Central Station remain at the current location, Wynnum Station removed, and Wynnum North Station moved slightly east to a straighter section of track at the end of French Street.
To mitigate the loss of service, I would propose the Wynnum Loop bus routes (223 and 224) be increased in frequency to meet the train every half hour at all times of day.
Community use for reclaimed space
The space under the viaducts would be reclaimed for community use. This would allow for the delivery of a pedestrian and bike path between Lindum and Manly and improve the walkable and bikeable catchment of Wynnum State High School.
here are some images from Melbourne for reference.
Great proposal. I see the relocated Wynnum North is positioned over part of the existing park and ride. Is there an advantage to that, compared to it being slightly further east still?
Just a minor thing though, I fully agree with the rest.
It was just placed to be closest to the existing station while being on a straight section of track. Come to think of it, having it be positioned further east will line it up with Stradbroke Avenue and Stanley Terrace which would be preferable.
However I think we’re better off saving Wynnum instead of Wynnum North. Where Wynnum North is should be in a cutting. At Wynnum station btw I would have the station as cut and cover and build the car park on top of the station (which will be rebuilt in cutting). So Wynnum station will essentially become the park and ride station whilst Wynnum central will be more aligned with Transit Oriented development and will have no station parking. Those who are parking will just use Wynnum. Anyways between Wynnum and Wynnum stations it will go from cutting onto the skyrail.
Also I would shift Wynnum Central to have its platforms over Ronald Street with entrances on both sides. Will require some demolition of nearby buildings but you can integrate TOD better that way. Anyways I think this upgrade will probably take 12-18 months so temporary track crossovers to allow trains to terminate at Hemmant will need to be installed. But I wouldn’t bother removing said crossovers though, so really they would be permanent. The reason why terminate at Hemmant even though Lindum recently got upgraded is because it makes it easier for us to build a road overpass at Lindum. Also I know we do have stabling at Manly Station but that space next to Thronside I would build a proper depot. Also every station would get accessibility upgrades
Great proposal. Another area should get viaduct treatment is just north of North Boondall to just before Shorncliffe. Thatll remove three absymal LX and unite at least 3-4 community spaces with half of suburb more united.
I would close both the Wynnum North and Wynnum stations and make the Wynnum Central station the only elevated station and rename it to ‘Wynnum station’. No suburb the size of Wynnum needs three train stations spaced out that closely. The Lindum side embankment length might require overtaking the Wynnum North station, hence no Wynnum North station possible.
Building one elevated station and removing two others will decrease construction cost and time could save ~8 minutes travel time on the line would make it feasible. Also plenty of room for park’n’rides and a bus station. Not hard to add a bus loop that covers the northern parts of Wynnum.
I had a look with @alexjago at the terrain mapping info and there’s very little natural elevation change there. With a 1 on 100 gradient which is the targeted maximum, you could get 7 to 8 metres in elevation over Wynnum North Road, so it’s a non-issue in that regard. The spacing between Manly and Wynnum Central would be roughly equal to the spacing between Wynnum Central and Wynnum North, hence why I propose to maintain it.
I used 15m, requiring ~860m long embankments at both sides, and so Wynnum North station would be lost as it would be covered by the embankment section, not the viaduct.
My whole concept though is Wynnum North there isn’t much space. So Wynnum Central will be targeted as Transit Oriented Development and will have no car parks and the idea here is those driving to the train will use regular Wynnum (which will be rebuilt) as a dedicated park and ride. And then Wynnum North would thus close.
Not that great of a diagram but what I had to work with. This is what I’m thinking. Wynnum for Park & Ride, Wynnum Central exclusively for TOD and Bus Interchange. Wynnum station will also have a drop off zone and taxi pick up though.
It’s a good idea, helps the local area, helps commuters, and looks schmick.
The current setup is a mess, especially if the local service can stop at Lindum, Wynnum North, Wynnum, Wynnum Central, and Manly and you can see Lota station on it’s route I guess that’s a sign all the stations are too close to one another.
15 metres is extreme for a viaduct. You need a minimum of 4.6 metres clearance under the structure for vehicles, so even if you assume the viaduct structure to track level is 3.4 metres which is probably slightly over what it would be in reality, that still makes it an 8 metre height difference. This is doable with a 1/1 over 100 grade (1%) over 800 metres.
Tbh I’m not sure exactly what the current grade is at that section, although I don’t believe there is much of a geade since there isn’t an elevation change shown on the Queensland height maps that I can see.
Either way, worst case you scenario is that you move the point for the Fisherman Island branch closure towards or before Lindum and then have the suburban tracks begin climbing on a embankment with retaining walls immediately after Lindum to make the required clearance.
I think Manly and Lindum can be the main P&R stations at the present. Lindum especially has very little walkable catchment since the zoning to the North is heavy industrial.
I would support such a proposal - it makes sense, as the density of level crossings and low bridges is very high here
I also support the locations of where the project starts and ends - SE of Gordon Pde there aren’t many bad level crossings (there are those at Lota for pedestrians, but I think that could be solved by an upgrade to the station itself), and I believe the Lindum level crossings could be removed simply with a road bridge instead of elevating the rail line imo
