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Spirit of Queensland
	Tilt Train in April 2008
Overview
Service type	Passenger Train
Status	Operating
Locale	Queensland
First service	28 October 2013
Current operator(s)	Queensland Rail
Route
Termini	Brisbane; Cairns
Distance travelled	1,681 kilometres (1,045 mi)
Average journey time	24 hours 55 minutes
Service frequency	5 each way per week
On-board services
Seating arrangements	yes
Sleeping arrangements	yes
Technical
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)

QR Tilt Train^[1]^[2]

Legend

Brisbane

(Roma Street)

Caboolture

Landsborough^[a]^[b]

Nambour^[c]

Cooroy^[b]

Howard^[a]^[b]

Miriam Vale^[b]

Mount Larcom^[b]

Rockhampton

St Lawrence^[b]

Carmila^[b]

Sarina^[b]

Mackay

Proserpine

Bowen^[b]

Home Hill^[b]

Ayr

Giru^[b]

Townsville

Ingham^[b]

Cardwell^[b]

Tully^[b]

Innisfail

Babinda^[b]

Gordonvale^[b]

Cairns

Electric Tilt Train route

The Spirit of Queensland is a Queensland Rail long distance passenger rail service. It is operated by a diesel-powered Tilt Train that runs five times a week on the North Coast line between Brisbane and Cairns, a distance of 1,681 kilometres (1,045 mi).^[3] At the start of 2015, it replaced the diesel-hauled train The Sunlander.

History

In October 2010, the Queensland Government awarded a contract to Downer Rail for the construction of a new Tilt Train. The two existing diesel tilt trains used on the Cairns service were also refurbished and extended in size, with the inclusion of first-class sleeping carriages.^[4] Known as the 'Sunlander 14' project, a total of 25 carriages would have been acquired:

two new power cars and 12 new carriages to create a third train set.
one spare power car (later two),
10 new carriages to expand the two existing train sets to a 14-car consist,
refurbishment of 14 existing carriages from the existing train sets

By expanding the train length from nine to 14 carriages, three 'luxury' sleeping carriages, one 'first-class' lounge and one restaurant car could be included in the consist, replicating the services provided on The Sunlander.^[5] The construction of four new power cars allowed for the inclusion of the most up-to-date safety features in the driving car of each train, as well as minimising the risk of disruptions in case an incident occurred while a second power car was undergoing heavy maintenance.^[5]

The resulting project was costed at $195 million and allowed for the operation of five services a week, with a total capacity of 1320 seats. However, costs had risen by 2012, and the Queensland Auditor-General reported that the eventual cost would be from $358 to $404 million, because Queensland Rail had failed to take into account the requirement for upgraded maintenance facilities, as well as en route provisioning.^[5] The Auditor-General also believed Queensland Rail had overestimated how popular the new service would be, and had a mistaken belief that the 'luxury' component of the train would attract more high-paying customers.^[6]

In 2013, the project was scaled back,^[7] with the train length being reduced to nine cars by removing the luxury sleepers and restaurant cars. That resulted in a revised project cost of $204 million.^[6]

In October 2013, the first refurbished Tilt Train entered service on the existing Brisbane to Cairns service.^[8] With the introduction of the Tilt Train, which has a maximum speed of 160 km/h (99 mph), the journey time was reduced to 24 hours 55 minutes.^[9]

Rolling stock

Each Spirit of Queensland train consists of:^[5]

two power cars to drive the train and supply power to the carriages,
two 'railbed' sleeper cars with airline style lie-flat seating,
three premium economy sitting cars,
one luggage / staff carriage,
one lounge / galley / club car.

Notes and references

^ ^a ^b Served only by Electric Tilt Train
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Served only if reservations have been pre-booked
^ Served by southbound Diesel Tilt Train only if reservations have been pre-booked