History
For more details on this topic, see Rail transport in Queensland.The line opened on 3 September 1882 to Pinkenba railway station. During World War I and World War II, with deep berthing available to ships at Pinkenba on the mouth of the Brisbane River, troops camped in the Pinkenba and Meeandah localities. Passenger ships used the Pinkenba wharf, and special trains ran from Brisbane to Pinkenba.
The line was electrified in 1988, but only until a number of metres past Eagle Farm, the next station after current suburban terminus Doomben; only diesel-hauled services could travel the full length of the line, and those were infrequent. All passenger services on the line were suspended in September 1993 by a Goss Labor Party government as part of a state-wide rationalisation of the rail network with the closing or suspending of under-utilised or unprofitable rail lines. Only a few special services were run on the line on days of major race events at adjoining race tracks.
Electric passenger services resumed on 27 January 1998 under a Borbidge National Party government, but only as far as Doomben, with bus connections to the other abandoned stations.
The Doomben to Pinkenba section is used only for freight and occasional special trains, such as heritage services described below.
Read more about this topic: Doomben Railway Line
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“In every election in American history both parties have their clichés. The party that has the clichés that ring true wins.”
—Newt Gingrich (b. 1943)
“Every literary critic believes he will outwit history and have the last word.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Bias, point of view, fury—are they ... so dangerous and must they be ironed out of history, the hills flattened and the contours leveled? The professors talk ... about passion and point of view in history as a Calvinist talks about sin in the bedroom.”
—Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)