CityTrain is the name given to the electric passenger railway network for South-East Queensland, Australia, based around Brisbane. It is a division of QR.

The network is fully electrified and comprises 143 stations, extending to Nambour, the Gold Coast, Rosewood near Ipswich and Cleveland on Moreton Bay. CityTrain employs 1200 staff.

The rail lines run partially underground between Brunswick Street and Roma Street, through Brisbane's Central Business District. The rest of the network is suburban rail, with interurban services running to Nambour and Gympie in the north and between Beenleigh and the Gold Coast in the south. The AirTrain service running to and from Brisbane Airport uses CityTrain rollingstock and connects with the rest of the network. Unusually for a network of its kind, CityTrain uses (reinforced) narrow gauge, in keeping with the rest of Queensland.

It currently operates 87x3 EMU class, 12x3 SMU200 class, 30x3 SMU220 class, 10x3 IMU100 class, 4x3 IMU120 class and 8x2 + 4 trailers of the ICE class. All trains are electric multiple units and all have cabs at both ends (with the exceptions of EM60 - EM79 which have only one cab).

Due to current demand and a shortage of rolling stock, suburban trains are often used on interurban lines. The North Coast line frequently suffers the use of the elderly, though serviceable, EMU sets. The Gold Coast line is often serviced by SMU220 class trains which have had software upgrades for operation at 120km/h on high-speed parts of the line. This does alleviate, thought not solve, delays on the Gold Coast's 140km/h IMU oriented timetable. These latter trains are identified by the letters "HS" located on the front-left side of the cab at either end. Despite this, the trains are not provided with the usual creature comforts of the IMU or ICE sets, such as toilets or high-backed seats.

CityTrain runs under the TransLink public transport scheme. The network has an average of 2907 services per week, carries about 142,000 passengers on each weekday, and averages 873,000 passengers per week. All rail services currently pass through the corridor between Roma St and Bowen Hills Stations. Yearly patronage is approximately 48 million trips.

Central Station generates approximately 80,000 trips each day.

Queensland Rail in the year 2004 reported an amazing 99.7% puncutality rate for CityTrain services.

A new 4.1km extension of the Gold Coast line to a new station at Reedy Creek, along with 20km of duplication between Helensvale and Robina, has just been announced. The Queensland Government has also announced its intention to provide as much as $2 billion in funding for provision of new underground rail access to the Brisbane CBD with new stations and increased capacity.

See also

• List of Brisbane railway stations

External link

• 'G' for Guardian gives travellers comfort