- Queensland Rail’s Westlander (between Brisbane and Charleville) and Inlander (between Townsville and Mount Isa) trains will return to full operation from August, restoring the final services impacted by union-protected industrial action.
- The second weekly return services on both journeys, which have operated as road coaches since mid-April, will resume as rail services.
- These services complete Queensland Rail’s regional timetable, which gradually returned to regular operations from early July.
Queensland Rail is on track to fully restore its regional timetable, with the second weekly return Westlander and Inlander train services set to resume next month.
The second weekly Westlander return service (departing Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and Inlander return service (departing Wednesdays and Thursdays) will resume from the first week of August, marking the completion of Queensland Rail’s regional service recovery following union-protected industrial action impacts.
One weekly Inlander return service (departing Saturdays and Sundays) returned to rail operations in late June, while one weekly Westlander return service (departing Thursdays and Fridays) resumed last week. The remaining weekly return services have been replaced by road coaches since mid-April.
Queensland Rail Head of Regional Scott Cornish said the return of the services to rail was welcome news for regional and remote communities.
“The resumption of the second weekly return services on the Westlander and Inlander is a significant milestone and restores our full regional timetable across Queensland.
“We know these disruptions have had an impact on the communities we serve, and we thank our customers for their patience and understanding while we operated one return service by rail and the second by road coach.
“These trains are an important transport link for many regional Queenslanders, connecting people to family, work, healthcare and tourism opportunities.
“The Westlander in particular provides an important connection to South West destinations and comes at an ideal time ahead of the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers, one of the state’s greatest regional tourism events.
“Services will progressively resume from August, with the westbound Westlander returning on Tuesday 4 August, followed by the eastbound Westlander and westbound Inlander on Wednesday 5 August, and the eastbound Inlander on Thursday 6 August.
“We’re pleased to be taking this final step towards reconnecting communities and look forward to welcoming customers back onboard next month.”
Separately, due to a planned track closure on the North Coast line from 30 July to 7 August, some Spirit of the Outback, Spirit of Queensland and Tilt Trains will be altered. All customers have been informed directly of any impacts. Westlander and Inlander services will not be impacted during this time.
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