Exhibition railway line

The Exhibition railway line (also known as the Ekka Loop line) was a railway line in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It conveyed Queensland Rail City network passengers between city stations (Roma Street, Central and Fortitude Valley) and Exhibition station during the Royal Queensland Show (locally known as "the Ekka") in August and during other special events.

Exhibition line
Overview
Website	queenslandrail.com.au
Technical
Track length	3.4 km (2.1 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1982
Route map Exhibition railway line Legend km Beenleigh, Cleveland, Gold Coast, Ipswich & Rosewood, Springfield, Tennyson lines 0.8 Roma Street (1) Normanby (closed) 0.0 Central (1) 1.3 Fortitude Valley (1) 3.4 Exhibition Bowen Hills (2nd site) Bowen Hills (1st site) Bowen Hills Ferny Grove line Airport, Caboolture, Doomben, Redcliffe Peninsula, Sunshine Coast and Shorncliffe lines This diagram: view talk edit

In 2023, parts of the line were realigned and absorbed into the Cross River Rail project in what was described as one of the longest and most complicated pieces of track work ever undertaken in South East Queensland.^[1].

History

When the Roma St to Sandgate railway opened in 1882, it had been constructed via Normanby to avoid the need for land resumptions through the Brisbane CBD.^[2] When passenger trains were diverted to the new line via Central station in 1890, traffic diminished significantly, and the section between Exhibition station and Mayne along with Normanby station was closed in 1900.^[3]

Traffic on the QR system continued to grow, and so the closed section was reopened in 1911 to allow goods trains from the North Coast line to use that route to reach Roma St, the main goods yard in Brisbane. When the locomotive and carriage sheds were relocated from Roma St to Mayne in 1927, the line was duplicated to deal with the additional empty trains travelling to and from Brisbane's main terminating station.^{[citation needed]}

The line was electrified in 1982 to allow empty electric units to travel to and from Roma St.^{[citation needed]}

In 2023, parts of the line were realigned and absorbed into the Cross River Rail project in what was described as one of the longest and most complicated pieces of track work ever undertaken in South East Queensland.^[1]

Line guide and services

Prior to the Cross River Rail project, services stopped at city stations (Roma Street, Central and Fortitude Valley) before reaching Exhibition station. The service split from the main line in the middle of platform 4 of Bowen Hills, and therefore could not stop there for passengers. The service ran in both directions.^{[citation needed]}

Passengers for/from the Airport, Doomben, Caboolture, Ferny Grove, Nambour and Gympie North, Redcliffe Peninsula and Shorncliffe lines changed at Central or Fortitude Valley, and Beenleigh, Cleveland, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Rosewood and Springfield lines at Roma Street.^{[citation needed]}