How Redcliffe Locals Fought For A Rail Line And Won

The railway may have opened in 2016, but the fight to bring trains to the Redcliffe Peninsula had been running for more than a century. Community campaigners and local representatives continued pushing for the project through decades of studies, proposals and political commitments.

Read: Ten Years of Trains, 131 Years in the Making

One of those campaigners was Maxwell Barton OAM, whose involvement in the push for a railway began in 1977. He will share his experience at a Redcliffe Museum event marking 10 years since the opening of the Redcliffe Peninsula Rail Line.

Mr Barton chaired the RAIL 009 – It’s Time for the Line campaign, which he described as a non-aligned community campaign that helped turn political promises into reality. The campaign grew into a regional issue, with the project affecting a number of electorates between Redcliffe and Petrie.

Mr Barton said the campaign was an example of how people power could be used to effect change. His comments will form part of the Redcliffe Museum event, which will revisit the lengthy campaign behind the railway.

A Campaign Spanning Generations

The push for a railway had a long history before the RAIL 009 campaign emerged. Redcliffe’s first proposed route dates back to 1885, while the 1960s saw the then Redcliffe City officials included provision for rail access in its master town plan.

Renewed interest in urban public transport during the 1970s brought fresh hope for the project. The Rails to Redcliffe Committee was established, followed by further investigations, including a 1979 engineering study to identify land required for a potential rail corridor.

Land was eventually secured for a rail corridor during the 1980s, but further planning and studies followed. Redcliffe City joined the push to establish the rail line in 2005.

Political commitments followed in the years before construction began. In 2009, then Queensland Premier Anna Bligh made a pre-State election commitment to support the project, while the 2010 Federal election saw both the Government and Opposition pledge $740 million towards the railway.

The first sod was turned in late 2013. On 3 October 2016, the first train travelled the 12.6km Redcliffe Peninsula Rail Line between Kippa-Ring and Petrie.

A decade after the railway opened, the campaign behind the push for the line will be revisited at Redcliffe Museum. Mr Barton will offer insights into the project’s 131-year journey from concept to reality.

Read: 10 Years Since Redcliffe Peninsula Railway Finally Arrived

Decades of community lobbying helped keep the push for a rail connection on the agenda through successive studies, proposals and political commitments. The railway’s eventual arrival marked the end of a campaign that had been pursued by Redcliffe advocates across generations.

Published 7-October-2026