Railway Digest Magazine August 2020 Back Issue

Brisbane’s Cross River Rail Link moving forward
Overseen by the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority, the multi-billion-dollar Cross River Rail project, linking Dutton Park to Roma Street station via an underground route through Brisbane’s CBD, is now starting to take shape, with the most visible activity taking place at Roma Street station. Estimated to cost $5.4 billion, Cross River Rail will comprise a 10.2 kilometre rail link from Dutton Park via Woolloongabba and the CBD to Bowen Hills that will include 5.9 kilometres of twin tunnels from Dutton Park, under the Brisbane River and the CBD and emerging to join the Exhibition Loop at Normanby. John Hoyle reports.

What do you get when you cross a train with a tram?
Melbourne’s tram network is reputedly the largest by distance in the world with approximately 250 route kilometres. At one time there were 14 train-tram flat crossings but all except three have now been replaced with bridges, mostly tram over train, or the railway has been closed. Malcolm Simister takes a look at the three that remain (so far) and at their particular eccentricities.

In search of the Piping Shrike
The diesel locomotive fleet of the former South Australian Railways is an interesting one to consider for a number of reasons. Like the Tasmanian Government Railways and the Commonwealth Railways, it could be argued that its story was truncated by the 1975 nationalisation that saw the three rolled up into what would eventually become Australian National. Chris Walters explains how the diesel era on the SAR was characterised by a few things that set it apart from the other states, and provides an update on the current whereabouts of that era’s survivors.