In 1996, former Nanango Shire Councillors, Mayor Reg McCallum and Councillor Kevin Allery, first conceived the idea to develop the closed Brisbane Valley railway line into a rail trail after the line was closed in 1989.

The first section of the rail trail was developed by the former Esk Shire Council on the old railway line between Fernvale and Lowood, which opened in 2003. The section between Linville and Blackbutt was then developed by Nanango Shire Council and opened in 2006.

In 2007, the Queensland Government announced it would further develop the closed Brisbane Valley railway line into a rail trail. Between 2007 and 2010, further sections of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail were progressively developed and opened, including Linville to Moore (2007), Esk to Fernvale and Esk to Toogoolawah (2009), Blackbutt to Nukku, and Nukku to Yarraman (2010).

After the major flooding event in 2011, several sections of the rail trail were severely damaged, and in 2012, further development of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail was put on hold including the unfinished sections between Moore and Toogoolawah, and Wanora to Wulkuraka.

It wasn’t until 2016, following a grassroots campaign led by the local community, that funding to develop the remaining closed sections of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail was announced by the Queensland Government. Shortly after, the section between Wanora and Wulkuraka was completed and opened to the public.

The final section between Moore and Toogoolawah was constructed by Somerset Regional Council utilising funding provided by the Queensland Government along with further funding allocated to the project by the Australian Government and Somerset Regional Council. Project works started in November 2017 and this section was officially opened on 7 August 2018.

Thanks to the ongoing commitment from the local community and support from the Federal, State and local governments, the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail is now Australia’s longest rail trail spanning 161 kilometres from Wulkuraka to Yarraman.

On Tuesday 7 August 2018, there was an official opening of the final section of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail between Toogoolawah and Moore by Somerset Mayor Graeme Lehmann, Federal Minister for Regional Development, Territories and Local Government Dr John McVeigh and Assistant Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Julianne Gilbert. The opening was also attended by State member for Nanango and Leader of the Opposition, Deb Frecklington, Somerset Councillors, and Paul Heymans, President of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail Users Association.

During the opening, Assistant Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Julianne Gilbert announced a further $4.5 million to renovate and deck Lockyer Creek Bridge.

After 11 years since the project was first announced in 2007, the entire 161 km length of AUSTRALIA’S longest recreational rail trail is was officially open to the public.

A few months later, as the icing on the cake, the heritage listed Lockyer Creek Bridge was renovated by DTMR at a cost of $4.5 million and opened to the public just in time for Christmas 2018.

In subsequent years, the Brisbane Valley Valley Rail Trail Users Association has continued to lobby for improvements to the rail trail such as grids at the gates for cyclists. In total, approx. $38 millions has been invested in the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail by different levels of government for everything from bridges, to shade shelters and flood repairs.

Logan Creek bridge at Cooragook is the latest bridge to be completed at an estimated cost of $2.5 million (featured in the photo at the top of this web page).

For up to date information about the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail, Follow the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail Users Association Facebook page.