Angus Kidman – anguskidman.show

So today the Queensland Government kicked off a six-month trial where all public transport fares in the south-east are capped at 50 cents a journey. As a train fanatic and professional cheapskate, my mission was clear: to take the longest train journey possible for 50 cents on the day the discount launched.

That journey turns out to be from Varsity Lakes in the southern Gold Coast through to Gympie North in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, with a change of trains (but not a station exit) at Brisbane Central.

The total distance? 261km. Had I done this on Sunday, it would have cost me at least $17.31. Instead, I paid 50 cents. What a bargain. It requires some planning and an early-morning start, since trains only run to Gympie North twice a day, but it’s quite doable.

The cheap fares are being heavily promoted, with TV advertising and signage outside stations. The local pollies were also out at Varsity Lakes, though I didn’t hang around to hear the spiel.

I’ve taken the Gold Coast train dozens of times. It boasts free Wi-Fi, though I didn’t bother given I had good mobile service all the way.

It wasn’t too full at 6:30 when we left Varsity Lakes, though it helped that I’d deliberately chosen a train that left just a few minutes after the previous city service.

The Gympie North service is somewhat less familiar. I went as far as Caboolture on the Sunshine Coast line back in 2018 for my Trainfinder romp across every Brisbane line, but have never ventured to points beyond. Gympie North itself is a relatively modern station, opening in 1989 to replace the original Gympie station when the line to Rockhampton was electrified.

I’m always paranoid about connections, so I ended up with a full 90 minute wait at Central. Fortunately there’s a station Maccas where I could grab breakfast (adding to the 82 million McMuffins Australians eat each year) and do some work.

I still had plenty of time to loiter on Platform 6 and await the Gympie North train.

I popped myself into the quiet carriage, forgetting that nobody in Queensland gives a damn about that rule.

It was bad enough dealing with the woman phoning her relatives and the dude whose headphones were on such a high volume you could hear every note.

But it was the gaggle of teenage girls discussing their speeding (“We were doing over a hundred easy”), fighting (“When I got bashed by that fat bitch I took it right up to her”) and sexual exploits (“I didn’t fuck him, I only said that to her”) that did me in. I moved to a non-quiet carriage and peace reigned.

The journey from Central to Gympie North takes a little over three hours, switching from languid surburbia to single-track bushland (and the occasional wait for trains heading in the other direction).

When we disembark onto the single platform at the end of the line, there are perhaps two dozen people disembarking. Many venture onto the free bus that takes passengers to Gympie’s town centre, but I only have 20 minutes before the train turns around. Getting back to Brisbane will cost me another 50 cents.

I may not do this particular trip again, but I can imagine getting to Brisbane a bit over the next 6 months to really take advantage of this trial.

For a look at busier and more expensive train services, check out my listing of Sydney’s busiest stations.