Queensland Rail‘s North Coast and West Moreton rail lines have fully reopened following the completion of major maintenance upgrades last month which aligned with other Aurizon and Cross River Rail track closures.
Queensland Rail Head of Regional Scott Cornish said over the last few weeks, crews in collaboration with local contractors had safely delivered important track, signal and rail bridge improvements, bolstering the safety and reliability of the regional rail network.
“It’s fantastic to see these works complete, allowing freight and passenger services to resume normal operation between Brisbane and Cairns on the North Coast line and Rosewood and Miles on the West Moreton line,” he said.
“Since mid-September, there have been hives of activity and heavy machinery at various locations spanning across 1,700 kilometres of rail. At Alligator Creek we had crews pull apart and put back together an entire rail bridge with stronger, concrete piers, improving the structural stability of the bridge and making it safer and stronger.
“On the West Moreton line, summer preparation was in full swing with the completion of culvert renewals to ensure waterways can withstand wet weather across Columboola, track reconditioning and resleepering at Laidley and rail welding to reduce track buckling between Gowrie and Macalister.”
Timber sleepers were replaced with concrete and new rail was laid, improving track reliability and allowing services to travel at higher speeds and through warmer weather conditions.
Cornish said in addition to delivering crucial infrastructure upgrades, the works also provided a boost to local construction industries, with more than 300 jobs supported to deliver works, and local companies used for equipment hire and supplies.
“We are extremely grateful for the hard work put in by our employees and contractors,” he said.
“Our focus remains on safely transporting customers and encouraging more freight on rail and we are continuously undertaking projects like these to enhance and future-proof our network.”
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