ETCS Level 2 deployment expands on Gold Coast line

ETCS Level 2 deployment has expanded in South East Queensland, with Hitachi Rail extending digital signalling work to the Gold Coast line section between Kuraby and Beenleigh stations.

ETCS Level 2 deployment on the SEQ network

The work is part of a wider modernisation programme for the South East Queensland rail network. Hitachi Rail is delivering the project with the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads and Queensland Rail, with ⁠more than 200 kilometres of passenger rail corridors in the region being upgraded with digital signalling technology.

The Kuraby–Beenleigh section forms part of the Brisbane to Gold Coast rail corridor, which links communities and businesses across South East Queensland. It is one of the sections included in the broader network programme.

Sarfaraz Samnakay, Managing Director of Hitachi Rail Australia and New Zealand, said:

“Hitachi Rail’s ETCS delivery team in Queensland brings together the industry’s leading experts, combining strong local capabilities with global specialists in digital signalling, telecommunications and train control systems. We are also developing a new Traffic Management System for the entire South East Queensland network and introducing a Possession Management System to enhance track safety and improve network access for maintenance crews. These integrated systems, together with ETCS L2, form part of the backbone of SEQ’s future digital railway.”

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Digital signalling work continues beyond Kuraby–Beenleigh

Hitachi Rail has already installed ETCS Level 2 on Brisbane’s ⁠Shorncliffe line. The system is now being tested, while Queensland Rail employees are receiving training. The programme on that route has reached its final stage before the digital signalling system begins passenger service.

Work is also continuing elsewhere on the network, including sections of Brisbane’s southern rail corridor and the line between Beenleigh and Varsity Lakes.

Alongside the ETCS rollout, Hitachi Rail is preparing a Traffic Management System for the South East Queensland rail network. The company is also introducing a Possession Management System, designed to improve track safety and support access for maintenance teams.

South East Queensland rail upgrades before Brisbane 2032

The digital signalling programme is intended to ⁠increase network capacity and support more frequent rail services as South East Queensland’s population grows. The upgrades also form part of preparations for higher transport demand ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Official Queensland project material describes ETCS as a digital signalling system that sends continuous information between trains and the central Rail Management Centre using radio, trackside technology and onboard equipment. The system is designed to control train movements and maintain safe separation between services.

The technology is linked to the wider South East Queensland rail upgrade because it allows trains to operate more frequently and closer together while maintaining safe operations. Queensland Rail says ETCS is already being tested on the Shorncliffe line, will go live in the Cross River Rail tunnels, and will progressively activate across the SEQ network over the coming decade.

Hitachi Rail has delivered ETCS projects in several international markets over the past two decades, including the UK, Europe, China, India and Australia.

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