Episode description
Today we are discussing a place many of our listeners will be familiar with – Roma Street station. We will cover its grand beginning as a major terminus, to the many face changes over the years. We also chat with Operations Performance Manager for SEQ Operations, Ian Heidke, who shares the importance and challenges of Roma Street.
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Podcast transcript
Annette: Welcome to the Queensland Rail History podcast. I am Annette, and it’s great to have you with us for another episode. Today, we will be discussing a place many of you will be familiar with: Roma Street Station. We will cover the grand beginning as a major terminus, to the many face changes over the years.
Greg: Roma Street, it was the busiest and largest goods yard in the colony of Queensland. The volume of goods just increased and increased year by year. It was an incredibly busy place.
Annette: We also chat with Operational Performance Manager from SEQ Operations, Ian Heidke, who shares the importance and challenges of Roma Street Station.
Ian: It was that station where every day something was different. It’s the place that has that exciting edge or that cutting edge where whatever’s going on or whatever the next big thing is, some of it will be happening at Roma Street.
Male: Be that as it may, we, in common with the whole community, hail with pleasure the inauguration of the railway in Queensland.
Female: “An old woman in our carriage was very proud of this little bit of railroad.”;
Annette: Today we are recording from the beautiful Toowoomba Station. As always, I am joined by Greg Hallam, our resident historian at Queensland Rail. I am sure you will have quite a tale to share from the beginnings of this still major Brisbane station. How are you today, Greg?
Our topic in this podcast Roma Street railway station
Greg: Well, good day there, Annette. Lovely to see you again, as always. And yes, it’s great to be here for another one of our Queensland Rail History podcasts and sharing that wonderful story of the railways in Queensland. And for today, well, we’re going to be talking about Roma Street and the Roma Street railway yards. We look at Roma Street today and we think of the parklands and also the railway station that’s there, the 10 platforms. It’s changed a lot over the past 140-odd years, of course. I think when you go to the parklands today, the sights and sounds of rail, they’re never far away.
You see electric suburban trains there. You also see freight trains still coming through. And of course, you also have the travel train services that run from Platform 10 as well. So it’s a constant hive of activity there at Roma Street, as you know. It’s been an integral part of that part of Brisbane’s story for 145 years of railway history there, still continuing today. And with the advent of Cross River Rail, that’ll take it into a whole new era, of course, as well anyway. But anyway, yes, so that’s the history of the Roma Street yards. It’s all closely linked with the development of rail in Queensland. And we can talk about that today, no worries.
Why was Roma Street chosen as a railway station?
Annette: I am interested to know why they picked this location. I always find some interesting little fact swayed the decision.
Greg: It always does with these things, Annette. And I think that’s been the great thing with our podcast here and talking about the history. What we see today is really the result of so many decisions being made over time. And that’s the history of things, why these things came into place, why they came into being. But you look back in 1872, there was a Royal Commission on Railway Construction. It actually recommended that a rail link from Ipswich to Brisbane should be built. Now, as we discussed in our past podcast, the first railway line in Queensland, it went from Ipswich to Bigges Camp, and then west to Toowoomba.
It was an entire decade before the railway actually came into Brisbane, of course. And it came in from the bush, when you think about it, it came in from the west. Construction began in 1873. And even in the beginning, there was that question of where that terminus should be located. And it was a really hotly debated thing, a typical political potato in a lot of ways. The most appropriate location was actually thought to be at the business centre and port facilities. And you’ve got to remember, Brisbane, North Brisbane, South Brisbane, in that time in the 19th century, they were ports. There were wharves there. There was places like Quay Street, and that was there because there were wharves there. And that’s why they needed to have a railway close to the wharves and things like that.
So, the Government wasn’t willing to undertake costly property resumptions, building a railway into Brisbane. And they actually went for a cheaper option. And it was the site that’s fronting Roma Street. At that stage, there was a recreation reserve there and the original Brisbane Grammar School site.
Annette: Okay, so they reclaimed the garden and the school site, but there’s still a Roma Street Parklands and a Brisbane Grammar School.
Greg: Yes, there’s always been some form of park in that area, Annette; Albert Park, as it used to be called. The original Grammar School was actually taken over by part of the construction work for the present day – well, the 1875 terminus, I guess you’d call it, of Roma Street as well too. Construction of the Roma Street terminus, it commenced in 1873. There was to be a railway station. There was also the buildings and track that went with it. So the first building completed was the railway station or the Brisbane Terminus, it was called. And that was completed in 1875. There was a goods shed in 1876. Then we had engine and carriage sheds in 1877. And they built those buildings mainly because of the varied activities that took place within the rail yards. It was a marshalling yard, it was a shunting yard. Things used to come down from country Queensland to the markets of Brisbane.
Annette: Okay, Greg, what’s a marshalling yard?
Greg: It’s an American term, but actually we call it shunting yards. Stabling yards, they call it in this day and age. But in that era, they used to make up the trains there. So at Roma Street, wagons would be made up into trains and carriages and things like that. They’d come in from other places; they’d come into Roma Street, deposit their goods for the markets and things like that. And they’d make the trains up with all the wagons and carriages and then send them out again as well. It’s a marshalling yard, like a marshalling point.
Annette: Putting all the pieces together.
Greg: Well, done, exactly. Yes, that’s good. Like a big model railway. The engine sheds, they were used to accommodate steam locomotives. It’s where they were fired up, prepared for work each morning or put to bed at night, stabled. They did carry out minor repairs to the locomotives in the engine sheds as well. And there was also a carriage shed, and literally it was used to protect carriages from the weather. They also undertook minor repairs there as well.
Annette: Do we know how many employees were based at Roma Street at the time? It seems like there’s a lot going on there.
Greg: It was a very busy place and it always was, Annette. But probably at that time period, you’re probably looking at a couple of hundred that would have been there. You think station staff, employees of the traffic department, as they used to call them. And an interesting thing is, around that area of Spring Hill, Petrie Terrace, Normanby, those areas in Brisbane, there was a real nest of railway workers in there and it was always there until about the 1920s as well. So a lot of railway workers there, because that was their central place of employment, there at Roma Street.
What is left of the original Roma Street station buildings?
Annette: Are there any of the original buildings left standing now?
Greg: Yes, there is. The first railway station that opened in 1875, designed by the colonial architect FDG Stanley, John Petrie & Sons, they actually built it. North Pine, Petrie of course, being part of the family. And I think there’s a statue in King George Square in Brisbane of – I think it’s Andrew Petrie, or one of the Petrie’s in there, in King George Square. Anyway, the station building was to be the front door for the railway network. And by our standards in Brisbane in the 1870s, it was a very impressive structure indeed. Two storeys high, red brick, they had beautiful stone facings around the windows and door openings.
And the interesting thing, although Roma Street has ebbed and has flowed and changed so much from being goods, freight, passengers and everything like that, that original building, it still survives today. So that’s your real visible thing with Roma Street. And if you go there now, with the development for Cross River Rail, and the high-rise buildings disappeared, it’s got that lovely sense of prominence back again that it always had from the 1870s. It’s there, and you can see, it’s almost like the landmark of Roma Street there.
Annette: Yes, I always love going through Roma Street and seeing the red brick. It’s very, very nice.
Greg: Yes, it’s a lovely looking thing. And I don’t know, you look at it and you do get that wonderful sense of history just going through and understanding, oh, so that’s why it’s here, because of –
Our interviewee for this podcast Operational Performance Manager, Queensland Rail, Ian Heidke
Annette: I’m here in Brisbane today to chat with Operational Performance Manager here at Queensland Rail, Ian Heidke. Ian moved from working in North Queensland to Brisbane over 25 years ago and has been a key part in projects at Fortitude Valley and Roma Street. Ian, thank you for joining us here today.
Ian: No problem. It’s great to be here.
Annette: What is it about Roma Street Station that makes it so special?
Ian: Every time I catch a train through Roma Street – I don’t know if you watch commuters, but on a train everyone’s on their phone or their tablet or they’re doing something. They’re hardly ever looking out the window. But every time I go through Roma Street, whatever I’m doing, I stop and I look. It just has that sort of attachment and tugs at the heartstrings; it really does. It was that sort of a place. It was that station where every day something was different. And so when you go past, I’m always looking for what’s different today. I can remember when it was an old rail yard and then they built the busway and became a little bit more of a hub.
And then they built the parklands and it had local residents there. And just every time you go through Roma Street, if you look hard enough, you can find something new on the horizon. If it’s not built yet, it’ll be built soon. And it just seems to be one of those places that has such geological advantages in the place that it is in the city, that everyone wants a piece of that action. Whether that be residential, whether that be parklands, whether that be someone putting special events on, people going for holidays, people going into the city. It just has a slice of every pie that makes it up. And so every time you go through there, you’re looking at what’s the new thing in town. It’s the place that has that exciting edge or that cutting edge where, whatever’s going on or whatever the next big thing is, some of it will be happening at Roma Street.
What is it like to work at Roma Street railway station?
Annette: What is it like to work at one of Queensland’s busiest stations, Roma Street?
Ian: Roma Street was a real surprise packet for me when I got there. It really is one of those workplaces that is infectious and it gets into your veins; it never really leaves you. And it was such a different station. So, not only with the staff there, but also just with the demographic makeup of your customer base. It went from stations that were commuter based, and with Fortitude Valley, it had the night-time crowds and that style of thing, which was really exciting and really fast. You thought you knew every bit of the world, and then all of a sudden you land at Roma Street and you’ve got long distance customers with luggage and surfboards.
And then you’ve got people who are transitioning from a train mode of transport to a bus mode of transport. You have people who’ve come from a New South Wales long distance system and they don’t have the right tickets, or don’t really know how our system works. So you’re educating and guiding customers who really haven’t seen the system before, or they’ve come from a foreign system that appears a lot different and works a lot different to ours. And so it was a real challenge that you had to change your customer service mindset, your safety mindset, and just how you approached the job. The things that you were expecting to happen every day were actually a little bit different and a little bit challenging.
And then Roma Street also had the interface there with the busway, when the busway came online. So then all of a sudden at that one location, where it had years and years of experience just dealing with trains, it became dealing with long distance trains, both Queensland Rail once and interstate ones. Dealing with buses, both commuter buses and long distance buses. And then also our own rail network, which I was very experienced with. But it was like, how do you juggle this all together and do the best for all of those stakeholders and make it all fit and mesh together in one location. It was a really, really different experience.
I suppose the good thing about it is that 50% of your commuter base there was on holidays, and people on holidays are really easy to deal with; they’re looking for a fun time to start with. And so it was good. It was different and just had to approach it with different skills and a different mindset. The other thing that I discovered there was, it’s probably the station or the location that I’ve [worked at] 00:13:13 that has a really proud, steeped history. The people that work there seem to know a fair amount about the station. They seem to be very proud, and you can see it in their in their outlook and their attitude and how they help people.
A stellar example of that is, I think we have the longest serving female member in Queensland Rail actually works at Roma Street. She’s a lovely lady, and she’s had more years working at Roma Street, or working in Queensland Rail, than I’ve actually been alive. So yes, it’s a really, really amazing place with amazing people and it’s just got a bunch of amazing stories when you start to dig beneath the surface there.
Roma Street was a lot more than passenger trains.
Greg: Roma Street, it was the busiest and largest goods yard in the colony of Queensland. The volume of goods just increased and increased year by year. It was an incredibly busy place. Now remember, that’s going for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, basically, Annette. Now everything used to arrive there. Goods was wool; you’ve got wheat, coal, of course, lots of other minerals, fruit and vegetables. It’s a huge corporation market that they called it there, and that was the market for Brisbane. It was eventually transferred out to places like Rocklea and everything like that. But that was the big market there.
And things went in and came out. There was the mail, there was parcels, newspapers – newspapers, large amounts of newspapers used to be dispatched throughout Queensland by train. Food, books, farm machinery, haberdashery, clothes, furniture, Christmas presents even; everything. That was the place. It was just an enormous, buzzing hive of activity.
Annette: So, with the markets and everything going on, I’m assuming it was a popular passenger station at this time too?
Greg: It was very popular. In fact, it was the busiest in Queensland at that stage. There were lengthy investigations by the Railway Departments, and the Queensland Government had actually announced in August of 1911 there was to be a major reconstruction upgrading the Roma Street railyards. It had gotten so busy and so full, basically, and there’s only so much activity it could carry out in a very limited space. There was an enormous amount of money being pumped into it in that stage before the Great War. The railway line between Cairns and Brisbane was finally all going to be stitched together. There was a lot – it was a big railway project in that area.
The big excavation works at Roma Street from 1911 onwards.
Annette: Sorry, just to interrupt – so, about 1911, was that the same time the Gabba was kind of ramping up?
Greg: There was a lot of it going on throughout Queensland at that stage. That was just a big railway time, and the Government was very big on pumping a lot of money, new carriages, new rolling stock, workshops, the whole box and dice. It was a real big railway period there. Now, the interesting thing was the scheme involved relocating those locomotive and carriage depots. They were to go down to Mayne, which is Mayne Junction, which is the main railway yards today. Back at Roma Street, they were going to take the railway reserve and they were going to go into Albert Park – I spoke about parks there before. And they were actually going to chop back sections of the hill of Albert Park. And that’s heading up towards the Tower Mill in that area.
Now, that used to be a great big hillside that used to come all the way down; and it was all excavated. It was all chopped down and eventually a lot of that stone and rubble found its way down to Mayne, [through] 00:16:47 the excavations, and while they were building Mayne, they built up the land, the flat land at Mayne to get it above flood levels. And I think they raised it by about 1.5 metres right across there.
Annette: Ooh, that’s decent.
Greg: It took 14 years; they were at this 14 years. And it was incredible. So that was all going on in the background too. So if you’d been there just over a century ago at Roma Street, you would have seen steam shovels at work, chopping into the hillside. Three or four times a day, this train was going down, carrying all this rubble and spoil down to Mayne, down to Mayne Junction. And there was new lines being built and everything. Again, a hive of activity. The original station there at Roma Street, it was the Brisbane Terminal Station. It was the focal point for our fledgling suburban network there in Brisbane. There was one problem, and I think anyone who’s there today still knows it. It’s not exactly in the centre of Brisbane. It’s slightly on the outskirts, and I think you know that well.
So, because it was that distance from the city centre, they had to think about, well, we’ve got to get into inner city Brisbane. And you can’t always just get off at Roma Street and walk into town or take a carriage or get a tram or something like that. So they extended the line actually through to Anne Street, and that was in the latter part of the 1880s. And Anne Street was where Brisbane Central Station is today. To get there, of course, tunnel. And that was part of the problem; they had to tunnel into that area. And that’s actually when they changed the name of the Brisbane Terminal Station, which is what it was called – it was a terminal situation – and they changed it to –
Annette: Bad joke.
Greg: Terribly sorry. But they changed it to the Roma Street Station because of the geographical location; it’s on Roma Street. Brisbane Central then became the main passenger station in Brisbane. And actually that was for suburban and country travellers. So if you took a mail train up until 1940, it departed, or you left from Brisbane Central Station. So that’s where you left from.
Roma Street the destination for country passenger trains
Annette: That is a fun fact because Roma Street now has long distance travel again. When did it move back from Central?
Greg: Yes, it was actually in 1940. All the country services, they terminated at Central Station, as well as the northern suburban routes. They came through Central as well. And that actually, when it moved to Roma Street from Central, the long distance services as they called them, when they moved it back here to Roma Street, it became a bit of a secondary role because you still had Central actually, with all the suburban services and that. But I think the big thing you’ve got to remember about Roma Street, it was a great big goods freight area as well too. So we see that passenger station there today, but it doesn’t reflect the enormity of all the other activities that were going on for many decades there.
Throughout the 1940s and 50s, rail travel was still the main form of travel between Brisbane and towns throughout the state. And then in the early 1950s, the new long distance passenger services were introduced, including the Sunlander, which operated between Brisbane and Cairns. And those Lander trains, because they were the country trains, the long-distance trains, they departed and arrived at Roma Street Station. The importance of Central Station was further enhanced by that construction of the new substantial and imposing station building between 1901 and 1903, another red brick station. At the same time, the role of Roma Street, it actually was downgraded as a passenger terminal, but the volume of freight, it just continued to build and build and build. And that was over the next couple of decades.
Our interview with Ian Hedke
Annette: Ian, are you a first-generation railwayman?
Ian: No, I’m not. Actually, my father worked in the railway. So, he was a ganger up north. So he worked on the infrastructure side up north. And then he retired early, early ‘80s, well before I actually joined the workforce. But yes, I do have some roots in the railway. He got his start when they developed the Greenvale mine up north, and he helped build the line out from Townsville out through to Greenvale mine. So that was a really, really big project in the day. And that – I suppose, being a young kid and only seeing him on weekends and that – so we would go out to the railway camps every now and then to visit – and I suppose that sparked my interest, my intrigue with railways and railway careers. And this is where I’ve ended up.
Annette: So, did you ever stay at the railway camps with your dad?
Ian: Oh, no, that wasn’t allowed. But we would go up and we would visit the railway camp. So back in the day they’d have navvy camps that would be – I suppose to me, at that young age, it seemed like hundreds of guys, but it was probably 50 or 60 people that were camped in the camps. And my dad would work for two weeks in a row and then have a weekend off and come home. And what we would often do is, as a family – we only had one vehicle back in them days before the days of dual incomes and dual vehicles – so Mum would actually drive Dad up to Greenvale and we’d drop him off and we would spend the day up there with him and then see him off.
And then we’d come back home, do our daily lives for a fortnight. And then on that following Friday, drive up again to pick him up to bring him home for the weekend. So it did – but it was for an impressionable young child it was like a big adventure, it was a big road trip. And then at the end of it, there was trains. How good was that?
Annette: Can you please tell me something about your time at Queensland Rail? Where did you start, and how long have you worked here?
Ian: Yes, so I’ve been in for 38 years now. My initial career started up in North Queensland around freight and primary industries up there. About 25 years ago, 26 years ago, I made the move into the suburban network and into Brisbane. And my first posting up here was Central Station. So for a country boy, that was a real culture shock to come from a real small country rural station and then land in that city and be right in the hub of it there at Central Station.
Annette: So, before you transferred down to Brisbane, had you ever come to visit? Or did you literally just jump?
Ian: Interestingly enough, it was a real foray for me. I had never travelled outside of North Queensland. So I think roundabout Rocky was the furthest that I’d actually ever been. I flew up and visited Brisbane on a holiday, and that was my first – this is what the Big Smoke’s like, is what we used to call it in the country. And then while I was there, a job came up in the weekly notice. And I said, this could be a good gig. And so I threw my name in the ring. I believe they were calling for first class station masters for Central, Eagle Junction, and I think Robina. And so they called them as a group. Did the interview process, came through that.
And then lo and behold, the day that I got back home, there was a call on the phone asking if I was still interested in the position. And yes, I accepted the offer and within about five to seven days, yes, I was living in a new town and it was the city.
Annette: So you picked up your whole family in five to seven days and moved to Brisbane. I’m sorry, I’m still – my mind’s still boggling; five to seven days to move a family. That’s wow! So you’ve put in all that effort, then what was your first day at Central like?
Ian: Oh my god! I’d never seen so many people in my entire life. So I’d come from a rural town where, if we had a festival, there’d be 5 to 7,000 people. And that would be everyone literally in the town. I land at Central Monday morning, put my game face on, I meet up with my buddy who’s going to show me the ropes, and the first six trains all pull up at once with a thousand people on each train. And I’m like, what have I done? So it was a really, really transformative experience for me. And I had superb mentors in that time, the guys that showed me the ropes and taught me how to do what I needed to do were just the greatest people that I’ve ever worked with.
Annette: So, what is your current position at QR? And what does a normal day look like for you?
Ian: Oh, that’s a good question. So, currently I’m in the Operational Performance Manager role. We have an operation performance team, and basically, what we look after is anything that’s going on in the network that needs a little bit of SME expertise or engagement of outside stakeholders. We take the lead on those types of activities just to make sure that it runs smoothly, all the right people are engaged, and that we get a suitable outcome, not only for us and our front line people, but also how the logistics of projects come together and all fit in with timeframes and accesses and all of those sorts of things that different stakeholders have.
Annette: Have you worked on any other projects with Queensland Rail?
Ian: Yes, we’ve been involved in a couple of big things over recent years. We had Fortitude Valley opened up and was one of the new types of stations. We had plenty of work on the NBRL line with the new link from Petrie to Kippa-Ring. We did a bit of work with G20. And then we also were heavily involved with both the planning and the operation for the Commonwealth Games down on the Gold Coast. One of the more recent and exciting projects that we’ve been involved with was the Women’s AFL Grand Final, which was held in Brisbane for the first time out at Springfield Central. And that was the first event for that stadium out there. So we helped the guys set that up.
Our team was very experienced with obviously the River Fire and the New Year’s Eve events that we have in the city. But we’ve also done a lot of work with Milton with all the events at Suncorp, whether that be Magic Round; we’ve got multiple football games end on end; or concerts like Elton John and Bruce Springsteen. Yes, all sorts of concerts that we have there. So there’s been a fair bit of that sort of stuff that we’ve been involved in. And it’s been – when everything’s a little bit left field of our core business, our team gets involved to make sure that our front line people have both the tools, the resources and the knowledge that they need to make that successful and make it a good experience for our customers.
Roma Street the main passenger station and terminus from 1940
Annette: You no longer see freight going through Brisbane’s major stations. So when did it stop at Roma Street?
Greg: Well, as we’ve spoken, it was that major passenger terminus. It’s revitalised in the late 1930s. That’s when they built the new country station and that fronted on to Roma Street. It was a lovely Art Deco-y design and everything like that. Now, that steady growth in patronage, there was severe congestion at Central Station, and the Government then said, look, we’ve got all these trains departing here from Central Station. And they actually decided to go back to Roma Street. And that was in the late 1930s. So they said we’ll build an entirely new country station to service the terminus for all country services.
Annette: Is that the side on Platform 10?
Greg: No, actually, it fronted on to Roma Street itself. So where the park – basically Roma Street Forum – but older listeners will remember Roma Street itself. And as I said, it was a lovely Art Deco building. Very Art Deco, completed in 1940. There was big driveways that used to come off Roma Street and everything like that. Subway that took you up. So yes, that actually became the country station. And if you think of Art Deco, you’ll think of the glass and you think of all that wonderful Art Deco. Art Deco, Art Deco, Art Deco sort of thing. That was called the Roma Street Country Station.
It opened in 1940, just in time for the Second World War. It was located, actually, in the front of that 1874, 1875, the terminal station. So they were sort of joined together. As you can imagine, didn’t look too good. 1870s building there, with Art Deco in front. Not exactly compatible, but there we go. Actually, when it was open, that new one, 1940 station, modern in design and construction, an attractive approach off Roma Street. And it was. Beautiful gardens there. It was not quite as grand as that 1901 Central Railway Station. So Roma Street, guess what? It again became alive again with passengers, but this was for the country services; suburban services were based there at Central, in and out. But here, mostly country services, they left from Roma Street.
The big changes to Roma Street railway station in the 1970s and 1980s
Annette: Have there been any more major upgrades to Roma Street since?
Greg: Yes, a major upgrade in the Roma Street Station was completed in the 1980s. It actually came about with the electrification of the Brisbane suburban network. Work commenced on that in 1977. The first section was open between Ferny Grove and Darra in 1979, November. And actually, when they had the inauguration, E-Day it was called, electrification day, everything was centred on Roma Street. So they had a railway cavalcade there.. So, when the electrics were inaugurated, centre point, Roma Street, which was good.
The other big thing was when they opened the Merivale Bridge between South Brisbane and Roma Street in 1978; that integrated the Brisbane suburban systems. It was no longer north half, south half. And the important thing about the Merivale Bridge too was in 1986, they opened the Brisbane Transit Centre, a place for taxis, for trains, for buses, and for all intending passengers. And they also took the opportunity to extend the interstate railway line from South Brisbane, which is where the Brisbane Convention Centre is today, extend the line across to the Brisbane Transit Centre, which they did in 1986. And then they also took that space and had it available for Expo ‘88 as well. So yes, it was moved across. The Brisbane Transit Centre opened in 1986. And as I said, that was the integration spot for the trains of that era.
Annette: Greg, I’m interested to know, what happened to the Art Deco building at Roma Street?
Greg: The country station, 1940 to 1986. When they opened the Brisbane Transit Centre, it was part of the major development that went in there as well. And basically, it was all under the footprint of those new high-rise towers that were built there, the hotel and everything like that that went in there at the same time. So that’s what happened to it. Yes, so 1940 to 1986. They used to have railway ref rooms and everything like that there. And I’m of a certain age, I do remember – I can remember catching trains to and from there, for country services and things like that.
The Transit Centre, it opened in 1986. And it was that integration of long-distance rail and road passenger transport with most of the major interstate and country bus services terminated at our Transit Centre. But the story didn’t end there by any means. We go into the 1990s. Probably the biggest thing in the 1990s was when they closed the freight yards at Roma Street. So, that happened by 1993, and all the activity was moved out to Acacia Ridge.
The Roma Street goods or freight yards
Annette: I think that’s interesting, because we talked about the Gabba, and the Gabba lost all of its freight in the 1950s.
Greg: Yes, well, by the 1960s, yes, exactly.
Annette: And then Roma Street kept it until 1990?
Greg: That’s exactly right, yes. Yes, it was taken in the early 1990s, so it went out to Acacia Ridge and that’s become the freight handling centre. Because as you can imagine, a growing place like Brisbane, in the 1990s, a vast growing metropolis and you’ve got a marshalling yard and shunting yard. It wasn’t – it was quite a constrained activity and was still a very busy place. So that moved in about the early 1990s. The next big step came when they put in the extra tunnels between Roma Street and Central, and down to Fortitude Valley. So they went from one tunnel with the two lines to three and four.
So when they put the new tunnels through in the 1990s, the mid 1990s, they took the opportunity to expand out and actually realign the Roma Street yards to basically take advantage of the fact that the goods yards was no longer there, and also add extra platforms. So then they went up to 10 platforms at Roma Street and that was finished up by, I think it was about 1996, and they opened up to platform 10. So, you had the dedicated – for the travel trains, for the long distance trains at the new end of Roma Street. And then you had all those additional platforms that they put in as well for the suburban ones. So, Roma Street just grew, grew out again.
Roma Street Queensland Rail’s busiest station
Annette: I find it really interesting to know that Roma Street is still the biggest platforms with 10 when Central only has six.
Greg: Well, that’s exactly right. But I think it swings back again to that passenger emphasis, that Roma Street again, with the long-distance trains and dedicated platforms there. There’s also they basically had – there was more room to work with as well. And you had that smaller, area of Central and Fortitude Valley, or Brunswick Street, and through there; whereas at Roma Street it was also more of an opportunity, they could actually make more use of the land, I suppose you’d say. That was in the 1990s, and so they had that all done.
And then the next big things that happened, of course, at the end of the 1990s was when they opened the railway line down to Helensvale, down to Nerang and the South Coast and those areas. Again, there was more passenger traffic growing again. And that’s where Roma Street became such a good location for actually bringing trains in from various locations and that, passing them through the inner city area.
Ian Hedke’s memories of Roma Street
Annette: Ian, what would be your most memorable moment working at Roma Street Station?
Ian: Look, I’ve got lots of memories of Roma Street Station. What I really think, the greatest memory that I have there was just that initial week when they started to move all our offices. Our office was literally at the bottom of the Transit Centre. We were literally on the ground floor of the Transit Centre. And so, from our ground floor, you would take a lift or an escalator up and you’d be in the food court level. And then from that level there, you’d go up to the transit level. And on the third floor is where the long distance buses used to come in. So it was really, really hard for commuters or travellers who weren’t used to that experience, that you would go to the third floor of a building to catch a bus. And the first floor of the building was rail transport or infrastructure transport.
So for the time it was designed for, it was world class and world leading, and it worked really, really well. But it just outlived its lifespan and its capability. And so, yes, that actual place where we worked, it was actually part of what was demolished and what made way for the new network. And then we see machines move on site and start to pull down the old building. It just got real. Before that, it was a real good strategy and it was a real good plan, and we had some drawings and all of that stuff where you know it’s coming, but it’s – it’s a bit like tax time, you know it’s coming, but you don’t get really excited until it actually gets there.
When a building started to come down and that first time that you could see the River Fire fireworks without the Transit Centre in the way, and it was like, wow, it’s here. We’re well down the path of no return; this is what it’s going to be; this will shape the future. That actual realisation and recognition, not only within our little management structure, but with the guys on the front line standing on the platforms looking across, and the building’s gone. Now they can now see the skyline has changed. It was that sort of a moment. It was really an awakening moment.
And the realisation of the dream, what this is – what we build is what our people will have for the next 50, 100 years. This will shape what our people do, what the people who come after us do. And for those of us who have children that joined the railway family, so to speak, this is what they’ll get to live with. This will be our heritage to those people who become railway families and work in it. They will be like, “My dad built this”;, or, “My mum was here when this happened”;. It will be that type of thing. I suppose, similar to my experience with Greenvale; like my memories of going and visiting dad and knowing that that was a big project and it seemed really important. That is what we’ll pass on to our generations. They will get to live with the dreams or the aspirations that we create for them and turn into a reality.
Roma Street in the twenty first century
Annette: Roma Street really has changed over its life, hasn’t it?
Greg: It’s incredible. You think about that, Annette, it was the terminal station. I mean, the railway came in from Ipswich and from the west and boom, that was it, Roma Street. If you wanted to go further, horse and carriage, you walk or something like that into town; later periods you could get a tram in. Then you had the inner city came in. But then we also had the line that swung out to Sandgate and down to Shorncliffe, of course, eventually. But Brisbane’s first true and proper suburban railway, it went to the seaside from Roma Street. So it’s had this huge ebb and flow. You’ve had that emphasis on it being the goods yard, being the freight area and things like that.
Here we are in the early part of the 21st century, and guess what, it’s swung back to being a passenger area. I think the other interesting thing is the growth of the Roma Street parklands. Now, I don’t think now that people realise where the Roma Street parklands are, that was all part of – so much of that was actually from the Roma Street freight yards and goods yards that were there for decades and decades and decades. So you had that great emphasis. It was a freight area; it was the marshalling yard; it was the goods yards. There were markets there. And you had a great freight thing.
The Roma Street parklands
But now, the parklands, Roma Street parklands has grown on part of the footprint that used to be there for the marshalling yards, the Roma Street goods yards, the shunting yards and everything there. And the parklands came back. They took away Albert Park, and guess what, the parklands came back again as well.
Annette: So, do you remember what year the parklands opened? So, literally they opened obviously after 1990, when freight stopped going through.
Greg: Yes, the Roma Street parklands, 2001 they opened, just nearly a decade after the closure of the Roma Street freight yards and everything there. And it’s really been a case there with the parklands; they reclaimed a lot that they lost when the railway went there, especially in the early part of the 20th century when they cut back the hillside for Albert Park and everything like that and pushed the railway out. And then you think the railways come back and the parklands have come back again as well.
And one interesting thing was, with the Roma Street parklands, when they were being developed, they – of course there was the digging that went on site in various areas; there was archaeological digs and things like that – they found things there, old culverts and drains leading down to the Brisbane River, which they hadn’t expected, and other things. Actually, it would have been early 2000s, Annette, I do remember being called down to Roma Street one day by the archaeological team that unearthed these interesting bricks. And we were having a look at them and wondering where they were, and we worked out they were probably from the footing of the old engine shed there that dated back into the 1870s or 1880s. So yes, that was an exciting day actually. It was a good one too.
But yes, so basically, the Roma Street parklands is reclaimed and they kept the names associated with the railways, like they had carriage shades and things like that that went there to reflect that goods shed era and everything like that.
Annette: Honouring the past. I like it.
Greg: And then now, with Cross River Rail, it’s different in the 21st century. It’s all underground. So this time the development, it’s not so much up here. It’s what lies beneath, in this situation.
Ian Hedke and how will Cross River Rail change Roma Street
Annette: How do you think a Cross River Rail will change our railway network in Brisbane?
Ian: I suppose if I was looking to compare it to something in our history, it would be the Cross River Rail development with new stations in an underground environment, that we’ve never had. A new timetable with high frequency to bring us on par with the rest of the world. I think it will probably be right up there with the electrification of the suburban network. I think it’s that big of a change. So back then we had a network that was divided by a river, and the strategy was they brought on the Merivale Bridge, which linked both sides and opened up opportunities.
And then it turned into the Transit Centre coming online in the mid 80s, which gave us the ability to link various modes of transport. And then that led into Expo ‘88, which was the big flagship for Brisbane back then. And I’m sure everyone has great memories of Expo ‘88. And then I think we went into a bit of a cycle of, we’d done enough. And then now, we’re just coming into a new phase of renewed growth and that’s going to lead us into the Olympics. And so the project that we’ve got with Cross River Rail is going to be the thing that leads us for the next several decades. That will be our jewel, and the centrepiece that leads us into how the city transports people around, how it feels, how it works. Transport feeds into just about everything that is the lifeblood of any modern city.
Annette: With the advent of Cross River Rail, how would you see Roma Street changing?
Ian: I think it’s going to be the thing. It’ll be the thing that changes the face of Brisbane. And when I say the face of Brisbane, if you’re coming into Brisbane by train, if you’re coming into Brisbane by bus, long distance coach, if you’re coming into Brisbane by aeroplane, you’re most likely going to change at Roma Street. It’s going to be the hub that everybody sees first. And it’s a little bit like those things, like when you first hop off that jet and you’ve got that anticipation mixed with jet lag feeling. You don’t quite know whether you’re happy or you’re angry. It’s going to be the first touchpoint that influences that, that makes or breaks your journey. And that will be true for so many things.
And so I really think that it is going to be the key piece of infrastructure that people remember about Brisbane. And that’s a little bit unusual. So, when you talk to people who go and travel all around the world, each city has that thing that stood that city out from everywhere else that people went. I really and truly think that for Brisbane, it will be the interconnectedness of our city. You’ll be able to seamlessly do things and see things, and venture about. And I think that will be the thing that people will remember, especially in that lead-up to the Olympics.
There will be huge numbers of people from all various parts of the world with all various preconceived ideas about transport systems and fun and holidays and everything else. And they will all come into the system. And I think they’ll just go, wow! And walk away with, how good was that? I wish we had that in our city. That type of feeling. And then I think it will lead on from there. I think that’s – the Olympic games in 2032 is just the beginning. That will be the big sell for Brisbane. And I think the transport infrastructure that we’re putting in place now with Cross River Rail and all the other add-ons that go with that will be the thing that makes that work.
It’s probably like the wheels on the car. You don’t really worry about the wheels on the car till one of them’s flat; but other than that, without them – they just are that cornerstone of that particular vehicle working. And I really think that that’s what Cross River Rail will bring to – not only to Queensland Rail, but to the city itself. It will help identify the city as being on the world stage and being ready.
Conclusion
Annette: Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode, and also a special thanks to our guest, Ian Heidke, for joining us. If you have any questions about our rail history, please message us on our Facebook or Instagram accounts. Also, if you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review. We would love to hear from you what you love about the podcast, and what you’d like to hear from us in a future episode. You’ve been listening to the Queensland Rail History podcast, hosted by our historian, Greg Hallam, and myself, Annette, with a new episode every month.