One good thing about the update of the IPL update is that ETCS 2 is still a priority.
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Interesting tidbit in the 2032 Olympics Review:
My understanding was that the initial ETCS 2 rollout was only planned from Northgate down to Salisbury via the CRR tunnels at least initially.
Is this the first official ‘announcement’ of an extension further North and South?
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According to the announcement it seems to be the case! Looks like that whole sector which would be the case post CRR will be ETCS 2.
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The installation was also going to be done south of Beenleigh I think.
Doing it holus bolus will hopefully make things less complicated and more reliable, since there would be no need for a transition from old to new safeworking systems for most services in the ordinary course.
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Apparently when we had that initial ETCS meeting with Translink they said that ETCS was definitely part of the quad works by not further than Beenleigh. The second meeting we had they said eventually it will be network wide.
My thinking is that they will switch to DOO operations on the Sunny Coast, Gold Coast and Redcliffe lines once the new signalling system is switched on.
I think platform raising will be required at Glasshouse Mountains and definitely Beerwah, (perhaps include those platform raising works in the Beerburrum-Beerwah duplication) at the minimum before considering DOO on the DSCRL.
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Beerwah is being rebuilt as part of DSCL so not an issue there, Glasshouse will definitely be an issue though.
I live near the rail corridor and we were informed today that they are going to do be doing work to ‘test and commission changes to the signalling system’ this weekend as part of Beerburrum to Nambour duplication works.
Doubt it’s ETCS related, however it does make me wonder if the infrastructure to support ETCS 2 will now be installed as part of the track duplication. I will be keeping a keen eye out!
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^^ETCS 2 Testing
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Someone on reddit has snapped a pic of the ETCS hardware retrofitted on SMU260 and it looks pretty chonky! Do the NGRs have all the hardware already built in or are they going to lose some space too?
Credit rawrsthehusky, /r/BrisbaneTrains.
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At least it makes do for some luggage space onboard!
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I didn’t think ETCS equipment was being rolled out onto any of the older fleet, just the NGR and QTMP sets?
AFAIK refurbished SMU 261-296 and IMUs 161-188 sets will be able to run in the tunnels and this pretty much confirms that.
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Neither, as far as I’ve heard it’s just this SMU that’s been fitted out for ETCS testing on the Shorncliffe line. Lott makes a good point that some of the refurbished SMU260/IMU160 could be kitted out but I imagine the rest of the older SMU fleet are one more generation from retirement?
Edit: Also an afterthought, since the CRR tunnels will be ETCS 2 only I imagine they don’t need lineside signals, however what about the rest of the proposed ETCS 2 footprint? Once the older SMU/IMU fleet are gone and it’s just NGR, QTMP and refub units + freight could we see signals disappear on the city network in future?
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Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think the NGRs were designed/built with ETCS in mind, so it’ll have to be retrofitted.
The NGRs are designed for ETCS.
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Cheers Bob, I stand corrected.
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The ATSB today released their report into a 2023 SPAD incident between Fortitude Valley and Bowen Hills, and part of their safety analysis included some information from TMR that goes into a bit more detail on ETCS 2 rollout timeline than what QR have publicly released.
I’ll link the full report below, however the following is relevant for the ETCS rollout (Current as of 10th April 2025):
On 10 April 2025, the ATSB requested Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), as the project sponsor of ETCS Level 2 program, provide information on the anticipated implementation schedule of the program for the Queensland Rail network. On 28 April 2025, TMR responded that there is a long-term plan to deploy ETCS throughout the entirety of the South East Queensland (SEQ) rail network. Deployment is occurring in stages and full deployment will take many decades. Numerous factors are considered to determine which stages are to be prioritised.
Operationalisation of ETCS requires the SEQ rail network to be sectorised, with Sector 1 being the priority. Sector 1 is the north-south corridor joining the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast through the Brisbane CBD. Cross River Rail (CRR) (twin tunnels under the Brisbane River, exiting in the vicinity of Exhibition on the northside and Dutton Park on the southside) is the first ETCS deployment funded and currently under construction. CRR also deploys ETCS overland from the southern tunnel portal to Moorooka Station, plus the Shorncliffe Pilot Line from Nudgee to Shorncliffe.
The Shorncliffe Pilot Line is anticipated to be in revenue service by the end of 2025. The sections between Beenleigh and Varsity Lakes are also in delivery and are expected to be in revenue service by the end of 2026. Further sections have been funded but are not yet in delivery including a new spur line, the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line (Beerwah to Birtinya), Elimbah to Beerwah, and Kuraby to Beenleigh. Although yet to be funded, the sections from Moorooka to Kuraby, and from Elimbah to Northgate are in planning with the desire to have virtually the entirety of Sector 1 (coast to coast) in revenue service by 2032.
Subsequent deployments are anticipated but not yet in planning, with Sector 2 (from Ipswich to Shorncliffe) the likely next sector for ETCS deployment based upon the volume of services on that line. The TMR response identified priority sectors of the SEQ network planned for ETCS Level 2 implementation. Bowen Hill Station and surrounding areas were in sector 2 (Shorncliffe, Domestic Airport, Doomben, Springfield, Rosewood lines) and sector 3 (Ferny Grove and Cleveland line).
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NextThere now shows the correct meaning for train codes starting with an X: NGR with ETCS signalling installed.
As far as I know NGRs with the new equipment are only running on BDVL services.
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Couldn’t take a photo but SEQuence utes are on site at Coomera today. It looks like the Gold Coast line is getting ETCS sooner rather than later.
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They are being reasonably smart about it - new signalling needed for Pimpama, Hope Island and Merrimac, so no point in using RCS signalling if the intent is to move to in-cab signalling eventually.
The signalling on the Gold Coast line also (to some extent) limits line speeds, so there might be a modest speed bump coming out of this for south of Beenleigh to help off-set the addition of the 3 new stations.
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