South Coast railway line, Queensland

The South Coast railway line was an Australian railway from Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, to the Gold Coast. It operated from 1889 to 1964. The Gold Coast railway line re-opened in 1996 along a modified alignment in the north and a new route south.

History
The Beenleigh railway line opened in 1885 before being extended 26 mi to Southport in 1889. The firm of J. W. Sutton and Company of Kangaroo Point in Brisbane provided materials and aided in bridge construction for the railway line. A branch line running 22 mi from Southport Junction (later renamed Ernest Junction) to Tweed Heads opened on 10 August 1903.

It had been hoped that the New South Wales Government would extend its Casino to Murwillumbah line a further 30 kilometres from Murwillumbah to Tweed Heads, but this did not occur due to cost of resuming the land and the expenses associated with the tunnel and bridge that would be required.

Due to the increasing popularity of the motor car, and political interests in road transport, the Tweed Heads branch closed on 1 July 1961, followed by the Beenleigh to Southport line on 30 June 1964.

Route
The initial South Coast line officially opened on 24 January 1889 and included stops at Yatala, Stapylton, Ormeau, Pimpama, Coomera, 39 Mile Platform (Oxenford), Helensvale, Coombabah, Ernest Junction and Southport. It included a number of cuts, river crossings, long grades and a tunnel at, Ernest Junction, that remains in situ. The second branch of the South Coast line, known as the Nerang-Tweed Heads extension, opened in 1903 and stretched from Ernest Junction to the Queensland-New South Wales border. Stops included Benowa, Molendinar, Nerang, Worongary, Mudgeeraba, Reedy Creek, West Burleigh, Elanora, Currumbin, Tugun, Bilinga, Kirra, Coolangatta and Tweed Heads. The present day Pacific Motorway largely follows the route the railway between Yatala and Currumbin. Stewart Street between Currumbin and Tugun, the Gold Coast Highway between Tugun and Kirra, Coolangatta Road between Kirra and Coolangatta, and Griffith Street in Coolangatta/Tweed Heads are built on the former railway reservation.

Services
Passenger trains ran from South Brisbane to Southport with connecting trains from Ernest Junction or Southport to Tweed Heads. Picnic and excursion trains ran through from South Brisbane to Tweed Heads on Sundays.

From opening until the 1950s, services were operated exclusively by PB15 class locomotives, the largest locomotive permitted to cross the Logan River. Diesel rail cars operated some passenger services from the 1950s until closure.

Remains



 * The Beenleigh railway line is still in use.
 * The track bed between Ernest Junction and Southport, and between Tugun and Coolangatta, is still visible.
 * The railway bridge over Currumbin Creek was converted to a footbridge.
 * Short sections of the route at Currumbin and Coolangatta have been reused as a bicycle paths.
 * The Southport tunnel still exists, but the West Burleigh tunnel does not; it was demolished to make way for the Pacific Motorway.
 * The Coolangatta station area is now located between Chalk St and Griffith Street.

Replacement
The Gold Coast railway line on a new alignment opened from Beenleigh to Helensvale in 1996, Nerang in 1997, Robina in 1998 and Varsity Lakes in 2009.