Springfield railway line

Springfield railway line is a 13.6 km suburban railway line in Brisbane, Australia which branches from the Ipswich/Rosewood line after Darra railway station. Construction of the line started on 5 July 2010 and it opened on 2 December 2013. The line was developed along with the widening of the nearby Centenary Highway.

The line speed is rated for speeds of up to 140 km/h in most sections. However, apart from the interurban multiple unit 100 and 120 series and New Generation Rollingstock trains, there are no trains capable of the full speed of the line. The current timetable is based on a top speed of 120 km/h between Richlands and Springfield stations, which is faster than the Centenary Highway that runs alongside.

Construction and opening
Construction of the first stage of the line, to Richlands, started on 5 July 2010, with the first sleeper being laid at Darra on the Ipswich line. The line was developed along with the widening of the nearby Centenary Highway from two to four lanes from Darra through to the Logan Motorway.

Construction of the first station on the line, Richlands, started on July 1, 2008 and the line was due to commence service on January 23, 2011, with no service from Darra to the City due to scheduled maintenance works on the Ipswich line.

Due to the Queensland floods the opening was brought forward to January 17, 2011 in order to assist travelers from further west who could not utilise the Ipswich line which was out of service due to flooding.

On October 23, 2011 work started on the second stage of the line to Springfield. It was also announced that the station originally proposed as Springfield Lakes station was to be named Springfield, and the station proposed as Springfield station was to be named Springfield Central.

The extension to Springfield Central commenced service on 2 December 2013.

It has been proposed that the line be extended from its present terminus at Springfield Central to Redbank Plains, Ripley Valley, Yamanto, and Ipswich station.

Route
Passengers for/from the Ipswich and Rosewood line would change at Darra, Beenleigh, Gold Coast and Cleveland lines at Roma Street, and all other lines at Central.

The route necessitated a crossed of the interchange between the Logan Motorway and Centenary Motorway. A two track viaduct which is more than 800 metre long was built. It has been designed so that its piers do not obstruct planned expansions of both roads.

Proposed Extensions
In the Connecting SEQ 2031 Plan, the QLD Government has listed an UrbanLink high frequency (15min) service running from Darra to Springfield, and on to Redbank Plains via Augustine Heights, as an extension to the existing Springfield Line. It also talks about an ExpressLink (30min frequency) between Ipswich and Ripley, via UQ Ipswich, Churchill, Yamanto and Deebing Heights; with the vital corridor between Ripley and Redbank plains being reserved for a later time after 2031. The lines are shown in the map below.