The idea of the future Sunshine Coast line having further extensions (very hypothetical) got me thinking about future lines in other places.
I’m not sure if they are available, but I wasn’t able to find concrete details about corridors that have been protected (owned) by TMR and/or State Gov, just this really:
Does anyone know if such a list exists and is publicly accessible?
What corridor do you believe needs protection for future planning?
I will throw my vote towards future extension of the Sunshine Coast line - past the airport, up to the back of Coolum Beach (nearby the Woolworths there), then to Peregian Springs, stopping by Noosaville (Civic environs), and then rejoining the main line by Cooroy. This line would serve as the coastal Sunshine Coast Line and both northwards (access to the beach) and southwards (to the Sunshine Coast amenities for Gympie and hinterland residents) would improve connectivity. While not needed anytime soon, corridor protection would allow for lower costs when built and cements the idea that there will be future infrastructure works in the area, increasing development and density.
I’d also be very interested in the protection of a corridor for the North Coast line that can achieve higher speeds, and really do think that any future planning should aim to achieve this as well. Not 160km/h, more like 250+.
^^The line to OOL and the new line to Toowoomba from Gatton is also protected.
Also it’s amazing how they classify active transport corridors especially along Brunswick Street to the Valley from Bridge Road. Not sure if it’s a protected corridor or a classified corridor, but it’s not really an active travel corridor at the moment that’s for sure.
A DA posted today for a variation on already approved (July 2025) plans around Eagle Junction station. The red parcel, which I believe is currently a QR stockpile, is about to become 16 townhouses. The orange parcel was the same, but is now a mix of things including a child care and a low rise apartment block.
This land could have been used for a flying junction, a connection from the NCL to the Doomben Line, or possibly a Metro depot (I don’t believe this is the way to go with the Doomben Line, but it is pointed out for fairness).
The lack of forward planning is baffling. Just the fact that this is literally the junction of two rail lines and the land around it is not protected at all is complete nonsense.
Do they think that these stakeholders, when they move in, will be in support of additional train services on the line? They need to make them sign an anti-NIMBY declaration acknowledging the fact that they chose to have two train lines on their boundary fence.
That’s a terrible place to put townhouses. One little rail fantasy I worked on would have had that as the location of a terminus metro station connecting a metro that used the Doomben Line alignment at one end of it and would have connected to the heavy rail network here.
It is subject to a number of applications over the years, so lots of people in the right places have failed to make the right decision about this parcel.
The only issues ever raised with the developer was the location of the refuse and the size of the carparks… In a parcel that is immediately neighbouring two rail lines, so close in fact that they are illustrated on the plans for the application…
2016 - 63 apartments in 2x3 story buildings [Approved in 2018]
2017 - Retirement facility [Withdrawn]
2021 - Extension of the apartments DA [Approved in 2021]
2023 - 16 townhouses made up of 8 duplexes [Approved in 2024]
2025 - Construction management plans for the townhouses [Approved in 2025]
Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see what the actual need for that land is. There is adequate room to duplicate the Doomben line (or selective bits of it) to allow a 15 minute headway, and there is no room (even with that plot of land) for any sort of grade separated crossing from Eagle Junction platform 2 to the Doomben branch short of bulldozing a much larger area, and probably needing to do significant rebuilds on both of the nearby road bridges.
Perhaps a rail corridor south of the GC airport into Northern NSW could also be preserved? Though there’s already quite a lot of development there so it might be difficult
That little bit of land isn’t enough to do a separated junction you’re right. It’s not enough to do much. But to do anything with that junction, that station, that line, that land is needed.
I love how the exact option that prevents future extension into NSW just so happens to be the preferred option chosen.
Internationally, and especially in Europe, a train will just go straight across a national border. Couldn’t we do that here?
If the Queensland Government is happy to be contracted by a private company to run private train services to Brisbane Airport, then surely a similar arrangement can be negotiated to run service into the Tweed and northern NSW.
I wonder whether the difficulty is how quickly a tunnel can get down from elevated after crossing the highway. That line over the highway near where the proposed rail line crosses over as well is an elevated access road. So the rail line would need to be high enough to cross that bridge, and then get down in time to be under the runway with appropriate set back.
