View source for Caboolture railway line

{{Short description|Suburban railway service in Brisbane, Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2012}}
{{Infobox rail line
 |box_width = 22em
 |name = Caboolture line
 |color = 008752
 |logo = 
 |logo_width = 
 |logo_alt = 
 |image = Caboolture-railway-line-map.png
 |image_width = 
 |image_alt = 
 |caption = 
 |type = Commuter rail
 |system = [[Queensland Rail City network]]
 |status = Operational
 |locale = [[Caboolture]]
 |start = [[Roma Street railway station|Roma Street]]
 |end = [[Caboolture railway station|Caboolture]]
 |stations = 13
 |routes = 
 |daily_ridership = 
 |open = {{start date|df=yes|1888|6|11}}<ref name=opening />
 |close = 
 |owner = [[Queensland Rail]]
 |operator = Queensland Rail
 |character = 
 |depot = 
 |stock = 
 |linelength = {{convert|49.570|km|abbr=on}}
 | tracks = Quadruple to Northgate, triple to Petrie, remainder double track.
 |gauge = {{RailGauge|1067mm|lk=on}}
 | old_gauge = 
 |minradius = 
 |racksystem = 
 | routenumber = 
 | electrification = 1982–1986
 |speed = {{convert|100|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}
 |elevation =
 |website = [http://www.queenslandrail.com.au/ queenslandrail.com.au]
}}

The '''Caboolture railway line''' refers to the section of [[Queensland]]'s [[North Coast railway line, Queensland|North Coast Line]] that has a regular [[suburban]] [[rail transport|railway]] service, extending north of [[Brisbane]], the state capital of [[Queensland]], [[Australia]]. The line commences at [[Roma Street railway station]], travelling through the city and extends through Brisbane's northern suburbs to [[Caboolture, Queensland|Caboolture]], which the line continues north to [[Sunshine Coast, Queensland|Sunshine Coast]] and connects with the [[Ipswich railway line|Ipswich]] line south-west of Brisbane. The line distance from [[Brisbane Central railway station]] is {{Cvt|49.6|km}}.

Lines that branch from it are the [[Ferny Grove railway line|Ferny Grove]] line at Bowen Hills, the [[Doomben-Pinkenba railway line|Doomben]] and [[Airport railway line, Brisbane|Airport]] lines at [[Eagle Junction railway station|Eagle Junction]], the [[Shorncliffe railway line|Shorncliffe]] line at [[Northgate railway station, Brisbane|Northgate]] and the [[Redcliffe Peninsula railway line|Redcliffe Peninsula]] line at [[Petrie railway station|Petrie]].

==History==
[[File:Petrie Railway Station, Queensland, May 2012.JPG|thumb|[[Petrie railway station]], 2012]]
{{further|Rail transport in Queensland}}
The first section of the line, to Northgate (and onto [[Shorncliffe railway line|Sandgate]]) opened in 1882. In 1883 the Queensland government decided to link Gladstone to Brisbane by railway, and eventually decided upon Northgate as the junction for the new line.<ref>Kerr, J. 'Triumph of Narrow Gauge' Boolarong publications 1990</ref>

The alignment from Roma St to Bowen Hills was via [[Exhibition railway line|Normanby]] (today known as the Exhibition line), and this remained the case until the dual track line via Central opened in 1890.

The [[Queensland Government]] called tenders for construction of the new line in 1886, with the contractor undertaking works "energetically",<ref>Kerr, J. 'Brunswick St, Bowen Hills & Beyond' ARHS 1988</ref> and despite delays due to the late arrival of bridge beams, the line was unofficially opened on 11 June 1888, with the official opening on 16 June 1888.<ref name=opening>{{Cite news | page = 6 | title = North Coast Railway. The Opening of the Caboolture Extension. Official Visit of Ministers. | work = [[The Brisbane Courier]] | location = QLD | access-date = 1 January 2012 | date = 18 June 1888 | url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3478095 | archive-date = 9 February 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230209043916/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3478095 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>[http://www.starfieldobservatory.com/MapletonTramway/6ComingofQR.htm The coming of the Queensland Railways] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716132124/http://www.starfieldobservatory.com/MapletonTramway/6ComingofQR.htm |date=16 July 2011 }} J. R. Henley. Retrieved 5 June 2011</ref> The next section of the [[North Coast railway line, Queensland|North Coast line]] to Landsborough opened in 1890.

The section from Bowen Hills to Eagle Junction was duplicated in 1886, with the section to Northgate duplicated in 1890, and on to Caboolture by 1917.

The section from Roma St to Bowen Hills was electrified in 1979, to Northgate in 1982, to Petrie in 1983 and to Caboolture in 1986.

The growth in patronage as a result of electrification resulted in the quadruplication of the Roma St-Northgate section in 1996, including 2 pairs of single track tunnels and the realisation of the use of the Bowen Hills tunnel widened 20 years earlier. Some of the roadbed and bridge abutments had been built in the 1950s before the original quadruplication scheme was abandoned. A third line has been added as far as Lawnton, which has been extended to Petrie as part of the [[Redcliffe Peninsula railway line|Redcliffe Peninsula]] line, which opened on 4 October 2016. Following the opening of the Redcliffe Peninsula line, a decision was made that all services on the Caboolture line would run express between Petrie and Bowen Hills, stopping only at Northgate and Eagle Junction. Stations between Petrie and Northgate would be serviced by the new Redcliffe Peninsula services while stations between Northgate and Bowen Hills would continue to be serviced by other existing services.

==Line guide and services==
All trains run express between [[Petrie railway station|Petrie]] and [[Bowen Hills railway station|Bowen Hills]], stopping only at [[Northgate railway station, Brisbane|Northgate]] and [[Eagle Junction railway station|Eagle Junction]]. The typical travel time between Caboolture and Brisbane City is approximately 51 minutes (to [[Central railway station, Brisbane|Central]]).<ref>{{Queensland Timetables|Caboolture}}</ref> A few services that originate or continue to [[Gympie North railway station|Gympie North]] on the [[Nambour and Gympie North railway line|Sunshine Coast]] line skips stations between [[Caboolture railway station|Caboolture]] and [[Bowen Hills railway station|Bowen Hills]] stopping only at [[Petrie railway station|Petrie]] and Northgate (45 minutes)

During the off-peak, services generally continue to [[Ipswich railway station, Queensland|Ipswich railway station]] on the [[Ipswich and Rosewood railway line|Ipswich and Rosewood line]].

Passengers for/from the [[Sunshine Coast railway line|Sunshine Coast]] line change at Petrie or Northgate, [[Redcliffe Peninsula railway line|Redcliffe Peninsula]] line at Petrie, [[Shorncliffe railway line|Shorncliffe]] line at Northgate, [[Airtrain (Brisbane)|Airport]] and [[Doomben-Pinkenba railway line|Doomben]] lines at Eagle Junction, [[Ferny Grove railway line|Ferny Grove]] line change at Bowen Hills, and all other lines at Central.
{|
|{{Caboolture railway line}}
|}

==See also==
*[[Queensland Rail]]
*[[TransLink (Queensland)|Translink]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[https://www.queenslandrail.com.au/ Queensland Rail]
*[https://www.translink.com.au/ Translink]
*{{Queensland Timetables|Train Network}}

{{Public transport in Queensland}}

[[Category:Public transport in Queensland]]
[[Category:Brisbane railway lines]]
[[Category:Railway lines opened in 1888]]
[[Category:3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Australia]]