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 The State of Queensland 2009
CHAPTER 6
TRANSPORT
Transport has always been a vital element in the growth and development of Queensland. The
main modes of transport have changed several times with advances in technology and the
spread of settlement. Early transport was by ship and horse. The development of rail and road
transport was followed by air transport. The isolation caused by Queensland's great distances
was largely overcome by developments in the transport and communication industries.
Much of the transport technology introduced in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
was imported and adapted to local conditions. These innovations occurred at a significant
stage in Australia's development when economic self-sufficiency coincided with political selfdetermination. As Blainey stated: 'Innovations which had come slowly over many years in the
northern hemisphere were telescoped into a few years in Australia. The long era in which
distance was a tyrant seemed suddenly, but mistakenly, to be fading away'.1
ROAD TRANSPORT
Horse and buggy days
In 1840 the last commandant of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement, Owen Gorman, led an
exploration party to the Darling Downs. Gorman, in his report of the journey to the Colonial
Secretary in Sydney, stated that 'no drays with any sort of loading can pass thro' "Cunningham's
Pass", but that drays may pass with very little difficulty carrying about a ton and a half each on
the route I went'.2 Gorman's report pointed out the difficulty of the terrain for the main transport
of the day—lumbering bullock drays—and the need to find suitable passes through the coastal
ranges.
Bullock teams brought grain to railheads and sugar cane to mills. The great advantage of the
bullock team was its strength in hauling drays and wagons over rough tracks and unmade
roads. For example, in 1898 a team of 26 bullocks hauled 123 bales weighing more than 12
tonnes over a distance of 300 km from Woolerina Station to Mitchell.3 In 1910 the Wilkinson
Brothers' wagon carried 144 bales from Hamilton Downs to Nelia. In 1913, 118 bales were
brought from Thylungra Station to Charleville by a wagon hauled by 16 bullocks.4 On the
Cloncurry road a wagon pulled by 51 bullocks lifted 140 bales.5
Alongside the drays were pack horses and pack mules that carried minerals, for example, tin
from Irvinebank and Herberton, and mail. As the condition of roads in the more closely settled
167
QUEENSLAND PAST AND PRESENT
Mitchell railway station, 1898. Twenty-six bullocks pulled a carriage of 123 bales of merino
wool, weighing 12 tonnes.
districts improved, the bullock lost its supremacy to the horse. Clydesdales and Percherons
were quicker, easier to handle and capable of travelling 30 or more kilometres at a time. In
farming districts the availability of hay supplied by farmers at cheap rates provided food for
the horses. The lone mailman riding hundreds of kilometres was a feature of the far north.
Generally, the mailman required a team of six or more packhorses and a coach or wagon, and
the service continued through floods and droughts. The last horse mail run serviced Coen,
north-west of Cooktown, and finished in 1951.6
While many carriers were family concerns or small firms, others organised themselves into
companies such as the Western Carrying Company based at Rockhampton, which had 400
shareholders and where the directors were teamsters. The company organised a complete
forwarding service from shed to ship. Carriers' contracts specified loading and delivery details
as well as penalties for late deliveries. A Carriers Union was formed to regulate the industry.
The largest branch was based at Charleville with a membership of 500-600, each of whom
contributed £1 a wheel a year.7 Their power was challenged in some instances by station owners
using motor vehicles, as occurred at Longreach in 1912 during a Carriers' Union strike.
In the far west camels carried goods, including the mobile emporiums of the Afghan hawkers.
By 1900 the camel dominated transport in nearly half the Australian continent, operating in
areas too dry for teams of horses or bullocks and too sparsely populated to attract railways.
Like the bullock and horse teams, strings of pack camels met trains at the railheads and loaded
goods for towns and stations further inland. Camels were difficult to work, but were economical
as they could live off the land, eating mulga, salt bush and a variety of thorny and pod-bearing
bushes. They could travel for long distances without water, could work for several years without
long spells and could walk for weeks on stony ground without hurting their hooves.
Most of the camel drivers came from areas that are now part of Pakistan, but in Australia they
were known as Afghans. Many of them worked the Birdsville track from Maree and Farina in
168
TRANSPORT
South Australia to Cloncurry in Queensland. Towns where they assembled had their mosques.
The Afghans were highly trusted:
Mohammedanism, surprisingly, was the camel-man's asset. Their religion forbade them to drink
alcohol and they were therefore entrusted with carrying of beer and rum and gin to outback hotels
whose owners or agents were wary of entrusting the same precious cargo to thirsty Australian
teamsters.8
The demise of coaching
Personal travel in the early days was by foot, horseback or horse-drawn vehicle. Cobb & Co
began in Queensland in 1866 and by the late nineteenth century its network of coach routes
covered much of the State. Services to country towns continued through periods of significant
drought.
Coach services soon found themselves competing with railways and, later, motor vehicles.
Rather than compete directly with the advancing railways, Cobb & Co coaches met trains to
convey goods and passengers beyond the railhead. By 1900 the railways were expanding ever
further into traditional Cobb & Co territory, with coach routes from Charleville to Cunnamulla
and from Winton to Hughenden being terminated. The progress of the railway westward from
Cairns caused the Cobb & Co service to Georgetown and Croydon to move from Port Douglas
to Mareeba, then to Almaden and finally to Forsyth. When business declined to the point that
the run was no longer viable, Cobb & Co sold its Forsyth to Georgetown run to a local contractor,
J. S. Love, in 1907.
Camels that were used to carry minerals to the smelter on the coast, Mount Garnet, c. 1901.
169
QUEENSLAND PAST AND PRESENT
A picnic in the Aramac district, 1900s.
Cobb & Co., Cloncurry area, c. 1908.
170
TRANSPORT
Coach travel was expensive and beyond the means of the ordinary person. In 1917 the 220 km
journey from Cunnamulla to Thargomindah cost £3 10s, and 5 shillings extra for a box seat.9
Natural hazards such as flooded creeks and rain made travel difficult. Male passengers were
expected to open gates, assist when coaches were bogged, and even walk beside the coach on
part of the route.
By the 1910s more efficient motor vehicles were putting further pressure on the coaches survival.
Roads were still poor but motor vehicles with high ground clearance, large wheels, long-stroke
motors and low-geared transmissions could negotiate difficult tracks. In the early 1920s
permanent airmail services were established in rural areas, further reducing the viability of
horse-drawn coaches.
Competition from a combination of trains, motor vehicles and aeroplanes meant the end of
coach travel. In 1920 the Charleville Coach and Buggy Factory closed. By 1921 Cobb & Co
had lost all its mail contracts out of Charleville, and had contracts for only three services:
Thallon to St George, St George to Bollon and Yuleba to St George. The 'romantic days of
coach travel, with magnificent horses, gleaming harness and skilled drivers who were heroes
and champions to all' came to an end when the last coach ran from Surat to Yuleba on 14
August 1924.10
The early 1920s were therefore unique in the history of commercial transport in Queensland.
Passengers and freight were conveyed by horses, bullocks and camels; by a network of
government-owned railways, supplemented in some areas by private tramways; by motor
vehicles; by overseas, interstate and intrastate shipping; and by air services.
Urban transport
Trams were a feature of early urban transport in Queensland, with both Brisbane and
Rockhampton having urban tramways. A private company operated a tramway in Brisbane
from 1885. The system was electrified in 1897. The network expanded, and the company and
its 80 km of track were taken over by Brisbane City Council for £1.4m.n The tramway was
well patronised, with local bus services conveying passengers to tram terminals. Trams then
took them to the city. When the council took over the local bus services and provided direct
links to the city, fewer people travelled by tram. The heyday for Brisbane trams was shortly
after World War II. In 1947-48 Brisbane trams carried 132.1 million passengers (table 6.1). By
1966-67 the number of passengers had fallen to 48.5 million. The tram network in Brisbane
ceased operation in 1969.
The closure of the tramway network led to an increase in the number of journeys by bus and
train, although total passenger journeys continued to fall, declining to 75.1 million in 1981-82
before increasing to 87.9 million in 1995-96. The number of journeys per head of population
has fallen throughout the post-World War II period, from 423 in 1947^18 to 58 in 1995-96.
Cab services developed in Brisbane and other centres. Early Brisbane cabs were two-wheeled
wagonettes popularly known as 'Molly Browns'. Later a wide variety of conveyances including
hansom cabs and four-wheeled vehicles provided cab services. Motorised taxis gradually
replaced horse-drawn vehicles. Taxi ranks were established in Creek Street, Brisbane, before
World War I. Motorised taxis multiplied and supervision of the industry was undertaken by
the Queensland Taxi Council, established in 1949. Urban centres continue to be serviced by
various taxi companies which run sedans, station wagons, high-roofed vehicles for wheelchair
171
QUEENSLAND PAST AND PRESENT
Table 6.1 Public transport: Passenger journeys by mode of transport, Brisbane,
1933-34 to 1995-96
Year
Train (a)
1933-34
1947^8
1954-55
1961-62
1966-67
1971-72
18,071
23,157
29,712
22,890
23,703
30,184
1976-77
1981-82
1986-87
1991-92
1995-96
29,296
32,592
38,886
40,080
39,200
Bus (b)
Total (b)
Passenger journeys
per capita (b) (c)
number
—
n.a.
14,759
34,825
33,431
29,225
58,724
88,047
170,023
166,386
128,985
101,453
88,908
294
423
331
217
130
102
—
—
—
—
—
47,830
42,525
41,066
43,185
48,700
77,126
75,117
79,952
83,265
87,900
81
73
68
62
58
Tram
— '000 —
69,976
132,107
101,849
72,664
48,525
(a) From 1966-67 to 1986-87, figures are for Brisbane Statistical Division. From 1991-92 rail figures include passengers
from the south-eastern region which includes Toowoomba to the west and Gympie to the north.
(b) Excludes private bus transport.
(c) Estimated from population of Brisbane City at census to 1961-62; from 1966-67 estimated from population of Brisbane
Statistical Division at census.
Source: ABS, Queensland Year Book, various years; ABS, Census of Population and Housing, various;Queensland Rail, Annual
Report, various years; Brisbane City Council, unpublished data.
A family with a newly purchased bicycle, 1898.
172
TRANSPORT
access, and stretch limousines.
While taxis are more expensive
than other forms of urban public
transport, they are often more
convenient.
Bus lanes on the Gold Coast Highway between Surfers
Paradise and Burleigh Heads improve travel time and
help to increase public transport patronage (Source:
Queensland Transport, Annual Report, 1995-96).
Bicycles are a form of mainly
urban transport whose popularity has fluctuated since their
introduction in the 1880s. Early
bicycles such as penny farthings
were somewhat cumbersome
and impractical. The popularity
of bicycles increased in the first
half of the twentieth century due
to low cost and better roads.
After World War II their use
declined along with public
transport as an increasing
number of families could afford
motor cars. Traffic congestion
and health and fitness concerns
led to a resurgence in bicycles in
the 1970s. By 1996 Brisbane City
Council had constructed 350 km
of bikeways.
Despite the cheapness of bicycles
and most public transport, motor
vehicles have become the most
popular means of transport due to convenience and often necessity. In rural areas they are
often the only means of transport.
Motor vehicles
The first motor vehicles were rare sights and occasioned articles in the press. They were
expensive and confined to the professional and wealthier classes, and were regarded more as
novelties than as serious modes of transport. They were usually imported, or produced in
limited numbers by small engineering shops:
The English firm which made the Wolseley sheep shearing machine, devised by an Australian
pastoralist, F. Y. Wolseley, branched into the motor industry with relative ease. Even a few Australian
engineering shops for a time made motor cars.12
Petrol was expensive, and a lack of fuel depots and mechanical organisations meant that cars
had to carry their own petrol, tools and parts. As motor vehicles became more numerous,
these facilities soon developed. In 1907 the Master Carriers of Brisbane was established, the
predecessor of the Queensland Road Transport Association. The Model-T Ford was brought
to Australia in 1909. Some station owners had cars before World War I. Motor vehicles were
173
QUEENSLAND PAST AND PRESENT
much lighter than traction engines and could use the same roads as animal-drawn vehicles.
However, roads often became quagmires and impassible after heavy rain.
Bullock-wagon and horse-drawn carriers opposed motor vehicles. But as they became cheaper
and more widely available, they challenged and then consigned to history the lumbering bullock
dray and the horse and buggy. They also threatened rail and sea transport. Only air transport
would seriously challenge the position of the motor car and motor truck.
Motor vehicles proved themselves in the remotest parts of the country. In 1910 the first
motorised mail-truck in Australia undertook the mail contract between Isisford and Ilfracombe,
and in 1917 the first regular motorised truck freight service was established. A motor vehicle
travelled north from Normanton in 1915 and, with the use of ropes, crossed the Gilbert River.
In 1928 a Baby Austin crossed Cape York Peninsula from Cairns. Organisations such as the
Royal Automobile Club of Queensland, founded in Brisbane in 1905 to advance the interests
of motoring, and the Queensland Government Tourist Bureau, established in 1910, actively
promoted touring by car.
Motorised vehicles steadily replaced horse-drawn vehicles for private and business use. The
1920s was the transition decade from horses to motor vehicles, although the last regular horse
dray service ran until 1956. Services and occupations so long dependent on animal power
slowly disappeared, including those of drivers, way-station owners and employees, blacksmiths,
coach builders, saddlers, harness makers and repairers, feed merchants, livery stables, horse
bazaars, veterinary officers, stock keepers and small hotels. Some businesses adjusted to the
changing technology of the motor vehicle. Certain carriage makers adapted their skills to making
and repairing bodies for motor vehicles, including pantechnicons and motor buses. Later,
motorised milk and petrol tankers, refrigerated vans, concrete agitators, mobile cranes and
A motor car and horse and dray outside the post office, Torrens Creek, 1916. The two modes
of transport co-existed for some time, although how the car got to Torrens Creek is not
known. It may have got there by train.
174
TRANSPORT
Table 6.2 Road transport: Length of constructed roads, motor vehicle registrations
and revenue, road traffic crashes, and death and injury rates, Queensland, 1935-36
to 1995-96
Motor vehicles
Road traffic crashes (d)
Length of On register Revenue
constructed at 30 June collected
Year
roads (a)
(b)
(c)
number
km
$'000
1,430
1935-36
53,549
107,600
1940-41
128,400
n.a.
2,065
143,300
1945-46
n.a.
1,935
240,800
5,200
1950-51
82,233
Total
crashes
(e)
1955-56
1960-61
1965-66
1970-71
1975-76
91,556
114,946
125,870
128,759
132,897
326,300
418,600
563,400
726,500
1,012,200
10,675
15,385
25,326
41,892
76.071
37.803
17,506
29.885
31.168
29.201
7.116
5,424
7,037
8,194
8,183
298
353
475
580
600
9.170
7,607
10,099
11,440
10,950
2.2
2.3
2.9
3.2
2.9
67
51
61
63
53
1980-81
1985-86
1990-91
1993-94
1995-96
138,405
150,188
157,305
161,962
n.y.a.
1,355,600 113,521
1,567,400 266,089
1,787,000 496,885
1.975.000 617,508
2,154,694
n.y.a.
16.485
16,294
18,169
20,828
20,623
7.724
7,183
8,642
10,915
11,479
559
481
395
422
385
9.951
9,333
11,278
14,389
15,121
2A
43
36
38
45
45
6,040
8,537
7,233
15,884
Casualty
Persons
crashes Persons injured
(g)
(f)
killed
— number —
2,266
2,652
165
2,878
3,405
147
2,854
169
3,656
4,557
5,512
218
Deaths per Injuries per
10,000 of 10,000 of
population population
— rate 27
1.7
33
1.4
34
1.6
46
1.8
1.8
1.3
1.3
1.2
(d) Data from 1985-86 is from GSO, A Statistical Summary of Road Crashes, Queensland, 1996, and uses a different definition of
road crashes previously used by the ABS. From 1985-86 figures apply to calendar year ended six months later than years shown.
(a) At 30 June. Figures from 1980-81 are from the Commonwealth Grants Commission. Prior figures are from local governments.
(b) For 1995-96 figure from Queensland Transport.
(c) From 1980-81 includes all revenue except fines and service charges.
(e) All accidents were reported until 30 June 1957. After that, only accidents resulting in death or personal injury or causing more
than a prescribed value of damage were included; the value of damages was $50 from 1 July 1957, $100 from May 1969, $300
from 1 January 1976, $1,000 from 1 October 1978 and $2,500 from December 1991.
(f) To 1955-56 all accidents; from 1960-61 only accidents causing death or requiring medical treatment were included.
(g) To 1955-56 all accidents; from 1960-61 only accidents requiring medical treatment were included.
Source: ABS, Queenland Year Book, various years; Commonwealth Grants Commission, unpublished datg GSO, A Statistical
Summary of Road Crushes, Queensland, 7996; Queensland Transport, unpublished data.
drill rigs appeared. The earlier concept of road trains was revived successfully and these carried
up to a thousand shorn sheep or several hundred head of cattle in double-decker trailers. New
industries to support the growing needs of motor vehicles emerged: petrol stations, garages
with skilled mechanics, spare parts dealers and motor traders.
The number of cars multiplied in both urban and rural areas. By 1930 Australia had nearly
600,000 cars, a figure that was exceeded in Europe by only three countries: the United Kingdom,
France and Germany.13 In Queensland in 1936 there were 107,600 vehicles travelling on 53,549
km of roads (table 6.2). Restrictions applied to the acquisition of motor vehicles during World
War II, but purchases again escalated in the postwar period. The number of motor vehicles
increased by more than 10-fold from 240,800 in 1951 to 2,582,000 in 1996. Total length of roads
doubled from 82,233 km in 1951 to 161,962 km in 1994.
The expense of constructing and upgrading major roads fell to the State Government. The Main
Roads Board (later the Main Roads Department) was founded in 1920, and roads competed with
railways for Treasury loan funds. Local government was responsible for minor roads and bridges.
Coordination and planning of road, air and sea transport was undertaken by the State Department
of Transport established in 1947 as part of postwar reconstruction. A program was undertaken by
175
QUEENSLAND PAST AND PRESENT
Motorised mail service, Muttaburra, 1927. The truck was a 1924 Buick and serviced the
Hughenden to Muttaburra to Longreach run.
Bicycles left outside the old city baths, Saturday afternoon, Queen's Park,
Maryborough, c. 1940s.
176
TRANSPORT
Commonwealth and State Governments to produce all-weather
roads in Australia. Wilbur Smith
& Associates were commissioned
to study Brisbane transport and in
1965 recommended a network of
freeways and new roads.
Motor vehicles freed people
from reliance on public transport. Suburbs developed beyond
the railways, and main roads
were lined with petrol stations
and factories. People could
reside in one part of a city,
work in another part, and spend
their leisure and social life in
other parts. Suburbs became
'dormitories with television sets
at one end and car ports at the
other'. 14 Availability of cars
enabled people to spend more
time at beaches and other places
that were previously accessible
only by lengthy journeys by train
or horse. Interstate travel was
more feasible as the condition of
The Charles Barton Bridge at Townsville was completed
roads improved, and holiday
in 1995-96, providing a four-lane divided carriageway
resorts
were established along
to ease local and highway traffic congestion.
the
coast.
The Gold Coast devel(Source: Main Roads, Annual Report, 1995-96).
oped as an area accessible from
Brisbane by car and was promoted in the southern States as a major resort centre easily
accessible by car and later by air.
Farmers benefited from motor vehicles but the new transport also contributed to the decline
of some farming areas and country towns. Tractors and mechanised farm machinery enabled
greater areas of land to be cultivated and harvested. Cars meant that people could travel to
larger, more distant towns for a greater range of supplies and services. Small towns became
stagnant and country stores could not compete with chain stores and larger shops.
Cars increased the self-sufficiency of individuals but not always of the nation. Oil was the basis
of the motor industry and, increasingly, of the shipping fleets and railway locomotives. Australia
produced no commercial crude oil or rubber and became dependent on overseas supplies. Oil
shortages became crucial during World War II when supplies were threatened. Prices of oil
quadrupled during the OPEC oil crises of the 1970s. Despite high expectations from deposits
at Roma in the 1930s, it was not until the 1960s that Australian oil reserves became commercial.
These were on the north-west shelf off Western Australia and in Bass Strait. The discovery of
oil at Moonie in 1962 briefly made Brisbane the oil capital of Australia.
177
QUEENSLAND PAST AND PRESENT
Table 6.3 Road transport: Total and average distance travelled by type of motor
vehicle registered in Queensland, 1971-1995
12 months to 30 September
Type of vehicle
1971
1976
1979 (a)
Total distance travelled
Passenger vehicles
16,898
Motor cycles
161
2,092
Light vehicles (b)
n.p.
Rigid trucks (b)
n.p.
Articulated trucks
1,287
Other trucks (c)
n.p.
Buses
n.p.
n.p.
n.p.
n.p.
n.p.
n.p.
n.a.
12,461
411
3,465
688
337
40
n.a.
15,691
473
3,686
1,303
450
33
n.a.
20,439
14,730
17,404
21,636
Average distance travelled
Passenger vehicles
15.1
5.5
Motor cycles
n.p.
Light vehicles (b)
n.p.
Rigid trucks (b)
n.p.
Articulated trucks
n.p.
Other trucks
28.3
Buses
14.6
5.3
17.4
15.0
35.7
18.7
n.a.
14.6
5.4
16.3
14.4
47.7
12.4
n.a.
15.6
5.4
14.9
20.0
53.8
13.6
n.a.
14.6
14.4
14.5
15.3
Total
Total (d)
1982
1985
— million km —
1988
1991
1995
16,280
446
4,241
1,184
517
43
n.a.
17,870
424
4,498
1,217
610
39
249
19,029
389
4,860
1,212
714
73
286
24,727
402
6,486
1,399
1,042
56
304
22,710
— '000km —
24,908
26,562
34,417
15.4
6.2
16.5
17.6
63.4
15.9
n.a.
15.4
7.1
17.5
18.6
75.6
12.3
34.0
15.0
6.7
16.9
20.3
79.7
19.8
34.7
16.3
5.9
19.2
21.9
92.5
19.4
34.0
15.5
16.0
15.7
17.1
(a) Calculated from average kilometres travelled and the number of vehicles on the register.
(b) Due to definitional changes figures to 1988 are not strictly comparable with figures for 1991 and 1995. See explanatory notes to
the ABS, Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, 30 September 1991, Cat. no. 9208.0.
(c) For 1971 includes all trucks.
(d) For 1971 excludes buses.
Source: ABS, Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, 1971-1995, Cat. no. 9208.0.
A higher volume of motor vehicles led to an increase in traffic accidents and fatalities. The
1970s was the worst decade for traffic fatalities in Queensland, with 580 persons killed in 197071 and 600 in 1975-76 (table 6.2). Since then the road toll has fallen, with 391 fatalities in 199596. Deaths per 10,000 of population peaked at 3.2 in 1970-71 before declining to 1.2 in 199596. The number of injuries per 10,000 of population was 47 in 1995-96, only slightly higher
than the rate of 46 in 1950-51 when there was less than a tenth the number of motor vehicles.
Thus, cars:
altered the work of policemen and law courts, gave more work to doctors and hospitals and florists,
influenced the design of houses and theatres and hotels, made the ancient practice of walking
unfashionable, and made the art of flying feasible.15
The ABS Survey of Motor Vehicle Use shows that in Queensland the total number of kilometres
travelled by motor vehicles increased from 12,700 million km in 1971 to 34,417 million km in
1995 (table 6.3). Both total distance travelled and average distance travelled per vehicle
increased for all types of vehicles. Passenger vehicle travel increased from 15,100 km per
vehicle in 1971 to 16,300 km in 1995. Queensland had the lowest average number of
kilometres travelled for passenger vehicles of any mainland State in 1971, but the highest of all
States in 1995 (table 6.4). Since 1976 the average distance travelled declined in all States and
Territories except Queensland.
178
TRANSPORT
Table 6.4 Road transport: Average distance travelled by passenger vehicles by State
and Territory, Australia, 1971-1995
1 2 months to
30 September
NSW
Vic
Qld
SA
WA
— '000km —
1971 (a)
1976
1979
1982
16.1
15.6
14.8
15.4
16.4
15.7
15.6
15.2
15.1
14.6
14.6
15.6
16.1
15.0
15.0
14.9
1985
1988
1991
1995
15.4
16.1
14.2
13.7
16.0
16.4
14.2
14.2
15.4
15.4
15.0
16.3
14.2
14.4
13.5
13.4
Tas
NT
ACT
Ausl
16.4
16.0
15.9
15.6
14.3
13.7
12.9
14.4
16.6
15.5
14.5
14.8
n.a.
17.3
16.6
17.1
15.9
15.4
15.1
15.3
16.0
15.7
14.4
14.6
14.2
13.9
12.3
13.0
16.5
15.3
15.4
13.8
15.6
15.7
16.3
16.4
15.5
15.8
14.3
14.4
(a) For 1971 New South Wales includes Australian Capital Territory.
Source: ABS, Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, 1971-1995, Cat. no. 9208.0.
The 1995 Motor Vehicle Use survey found that 25% of all travel in Queensland, including
commercial usage, was to get people to and from work in private passenger vehicles. This
proportion is higher than any State or Territory except Western Australia and the Australian
Capital Territory. Passenger vehicles used to travel to and from work in Queensland covered
an average of 8,200 km a year for this purpose.
RAILWAYS
Early developments
The railways provided efficient passenger and freight services that were unchallenged until
after World War II for both directness and speed. The first railway in Queensland was built
in 1865, six years after separation from New South Wales. Most railways were constructed,
owned and managed by government. The individual interests of each Australian colony led
to the development of separate railway systems. Queensland used a 1,067 mm gauge for
most of its lines while New South Wales adopted a 1,435 mm gauge and Victoria 1,600 mm.
Passengers and freight were transferred between systems at Wallangarra near the
Queensland-New South Wales border and Albury on the Murray River. But the size of
Queensland, and Australia, meant that linking all communities by rail was impossible due to
the cost:
Timeless types of transport flourished in Australia at the start of the twentieth century. While
railways were like a web in the south east corner of the continent, elsewhere were vast gaps where
no rails would ever be laid. Many places on the coast and innumerable points in the interior were
hundreds of miles from the nearest railway. Many adult Australians had never seen a railway. In
1900 one could travel along half the coastline of the continent, from Geraldton (W.A.) to Cooktown
(Qld.) and find only two short railway lines in the intervening country.16
In 1896 Queensland had three main, and separate, rail systems: the Western Railway from
Brisbane to Cunnamulla, the Central Railway west from Rockhampton and the Great Northern
Railway from Townsville to Hughenden. A line also ran south from Brisbane to Wallangarra
providing a rail link to Sydney. Brisbane had a rudimentary suburban rail system, and separate
systems centred on Maryborough, Bundaberg, Mackay, Bowen, Cairns, Cooktown and
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