Cairns - Getting Around Cairns

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Cairns is an important transport hub in the Far North Queensland region. Located at the base of Cape York Peninsula, it provides important transport links between the Peninsula and Gulf of Carpentaria regions and the areas to the south of the state. The Cairns International Airport is essential to the viability of the tourism industry. Rail, sea port and road connections are also important.

Roads
The Bruce Highway runs for 1700 km from Brisbane and terminates in Cairns on the corner of Mulgrave Roads and Sheridan Streets in the CBD. At this point, the Captain Cook Highway (also referred to as the Cook Highway) commences between Cairns and Port Douglas approximately 80 km to the north.

The Kuranda Range Road commences at Smithfield on the Barron River Flood Plain north of Cairns and ascends the Kuranda Range to the township of Kuranda. The highway then extends to the town of Mareeba on the Atherton Tableland, and continues to communities on the Cape York Peninsula

The Gillies Highway commences at the township of Gordonvale and ascends the Gillies Range (part of the Great Dividing Range) to the town of Atherton on the Atherton Tablelands.

A network of secondary and local roads of varying quality is maintained throughout the Cairns suburbs by the State Government Queensland Transport Department and the Cairns City Council.

Coaches
Cairns is also served by long distance coaches to Brisbane, and regional cities to the south.

Public Transport
A public transport network is operated throughout the city by Sunbus. A transit mall is located in the CBD through which all services operate. Most services run from the Northern Beaches to the southern parts of Cairns through the CBD. Bus services, operated by Whitecar Coaches, also run to Kuranda and to the Atherton Tableland.

Former cane train corridors have been set aside for a possible future light rail mass transit system; however, no plans have been drawn up. The use of the existing heavy rail line for commuter services between Redlynch and Gordonvale is occasionally discussed; however this is not a favoured option under the FNQ 2010 Regional Plan, which favours the use of buses.

Rail
Passenger trains operate on the Brisbane to Cairns railway line. These are operated by Queensland Rail (QR) and include the high speed tilt train. Freight trains also operate along the route. There is a QR Freight handling facility located at Portsmith.

The Cairns to Kuranda Tourist Railway also operates from Cairns. The scenic railway snakes its way up the Kuranda Range and is not used for commuter services. It passes through the towns of Stratford, Freshwater, Redlynch before reaching Kuranda, stopping at the Freshwater train station.

Passenger services to Mount Forsyth west of Atherton were discontinued in the mid-1990’s. These were mixed freight and passenger services which served the semi-remote towns west of the Great Dividing Range.

Cairns has been served by a narrow gauge cane railway (or cane tram) network used to haul harvested sugar cane to the Mulgrave Mill located in Gordonvale. The pressure of urban sprawl on land previously cultivated by cane farmers, together with the need to reclaim cane train tracks for local roads has seen this network reduced over recent years.

Airport
The Cairns International Airport is operated by the Cairns Port Authority and is located 7 km north of Cairns City between the CBD and the Northern Beaches. It is Australia's sixth busiest in terms of international and domestic passenger movements. In excess of three million international and domestic passenger movements were recorded during 2003–2004. The Airport has a domestic terminal and separate international terminal and a general aviation area. The airport handles international flights and flights to major Australian cities, tourist destinations and regional destinations throughout North Queensland. It is an important base for general aviation serving the Cape York Peninsula and Gulf of Carpentaria Communities. General aviation provides important lifeline links to these communities. The Cairns airport is also a base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.