Roma Street railway station is a commuter and long-distance passenger train station located in thecentral business district ofBrisbane,Queensland, Australia. It is thejunction station for theNorth Coast,Main,Gold Coast andNSW North Coast lines. The station is one of four inner city stations that form a core corridor through the centre of Brisbane.[1]
Although not easily visible to the public, the original1873 Roma Street railway station building still exists within the modern complex and is listed on theQueensland Heritage Register.[2]
The construction of a railway station onRoma Street was part of a plan to extend theMain Line toBrisbane. An iron station building designed bySir Charles Fox & Sons was to be imported from the United Kingdom for this purpose, but economic problems in Queensland led to the order being cancelled. In 1873, theSuperintendent of Public BuildingsFrancis Stanley designed a smaller station for the site, with construction beginning in the same year underJohn Petrie. The station was officially opened on 14 June 1875 as Brisbane at the same time that the Main Line opened toIndooroopilly.[2]
A goods and carriage shed were added shortly after. In 1882, Roma Street became ajunction station with theNorth Coast line opening toSandgate.[3] With the opening ofCentral station as Brisbane's principal station on 18 August 1889, the station was renamed Roma Street. As traffic grew, so did the Roma Street precinct with a locomotive shed added.[2]
In 1911, the precinct was rearranged with the locomotive and carriage sheds relocated to Mayne nearBowen Hills.
On 30 November 1940, Roma Street again became the principal station for long-distance services with new platforms built to the south of the existing platforms.[2][4]
Following the opening of theMerivale Bridge on 18 November 1978, Roma Street was also served byBeenleigh line services. On 21 June 1986, it became adual gauge station with the extension of thestandard gaugeNSW North Coast line fromSouth Brisbane.[2][5] In October 1986, theBrisbane Transit Centre opened to the south of the station.
As part of the quadruplication of theNorth Coast line toBowen Hills, the station was rebuilt. On 1 November 1995, a new Platform 10 was opened on the station's north side as the platform for long-distance services; these services had previously used Platforms 2 and 3.[6] Platforms 7, 8 and 9 opened on 11 June 1996[7] while refurbished Platforms 4, 5 and 6 reopened in January 1997.[8]
In 2001,Roma Street Parkland opened to the north of the station on the site of the former Roma Street goods yards.[9] Visitors not travelling on Queensland Rail services can obtain a free pass to transit through the station concourse from Roma Street to the parklands.
Platform 1 became part of theRoma Street busway station on 19 May 2008, with the construction of the Inner Northern Busway.[10]
Roma Street Station will be affected by both theCross River Rail andBrisbane Metro projects.
The Brisbane Transit Centre complex was planned to be demolished in 2020.[11] Businesses in the existing buildings were closed down between late 2018 and early 2019, with reports of controversy surrounding claims for compensation by small business tenants.[12]
According to the Cross River Rail Construction plan, new underground platforms will be constructed to service Cross River Rail services.[13] The next stations for the Cross River Rail services will beAlbert Street (southbound) andExhibition (northbound).
The proposed Brisbane Metro Line 1 services will terminate at Roma Street Station, with the previous station beingKing George Square. Brisbane Metro Line 2 services will continue through Roma Street following the existingNorthern Busway route, with the next stations beingNormanby (northbound) and King George Square (southbound).[14]
Due to the anticipated demolition of the Brisbane Transit Centre, a temporary long-distance bus terminal was constructed on the opposite side of Roma Street Station (near Platform 10) and opened in September 2019.[15]
The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Else broke through into the new Roma Street station cavern on the 6 August 2021.[16] The second one, TBM Merle, arrived on 23 August 2021.[16]
Roma Street station is served by all suburban and interurbanCity network lines.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]
It is also the terminus station for long-distanceTraveltrain services[28][29][30][31] andNSW TrainLink's service toSydney.[32] Amotorail loading dock was previously located on Platform 10 but it was removed in 2015.[33]
| Platform | Lines | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roma Street Busway | Northbound Buses | Brisbane Metro |
| 2 | Roma Street Busway | Southbound Buses | Brisbane Metro |
| 2* | (Train Platform) | Closed | Not used for regularly timetabled services |
| 3 | NSW TrainLink North Coast | Sydney Central | 1 dailyNSW TrainLinkXPT service[32] |
| 4 | Beenleigh | Beenleigh,Kuraby &Coopers Plains | [34] |
| Gold Coast | Varsity Lakes | ||
| 5 | Beenleigh | Beenleigh | [35] |
| Cleveland | Cleveland | ||
| 6 | Beenleigh | Beenleigh &Ferny Grove | [36] |
| Doomben | Doomben | ||
| Airport &Gold Coast | Brisbane Airport Domestic &Varsity Lakes | ||
| Shorncliffe | Shorncliffe | ||
| 7 | Ferny Grove | Ferny Grove | [37] |
| Caboolture | Caboolture | ||
| Doomben | Doomben | ||
| Airport | Brisbane Airport Domestic | ||
| Shorncliffe | Shorncliffe | ||
| Sunshine Coast | Gympie North | ||
| 8 | Ipswich & Rosewood | Ipswich &Rosewood | [38] |
| Springfield | Springfield Central | ||
| 9 | Caboolture | Caboolture | [39] |
| Redcliffe Peninsula | Kippa-Ring | ||
| Sunshine Coast | Nambour andGympie North | ||
| 10 |  | Spirit of Queensland to and fromCairns | [28] |
| Spirit of the Outback to and fromLongreach | [29] | ||
| Tilt Train to and fromBundaberg &Rockhampton | [30] | ||
| The Westlander to and fromCharleville | [31] | ||
| 11 | Cross River Rail | Under Construction | [40] |
| 12 | Cross River Rail | Under Construction | [40] |
| * Platform 2 is an Island platform with the southern side used by Southbound Buses, and the northern side a train platform that is currently closed. Both are technically platform 2, but the train platform does not have a number currently | |||
To the north of the station is the Brisbane Coach Terminal that opened in 2019 as replacement for theBrisbane Transit Centre.[41][42] It is used by long distanceBus Queensland,Crisps Coaches,Greyhound Australia,Murrays,NSW TrainLink andPremier Motor Service services.
To the south of the station isRoma Street busway station on theNorthern Busway that is served byTransport for Brisbane.[43]
