Spirit of Capricorn

The Spirit of Capricorn was a long distance passenger rail service in Queensland, Australia, Operated by Queensland Rail Traveltrain between 1988 and 24 May 2003. It operated between Rockhampton, Queensland and the Capital of the state, Brisbane at its station Roma Street.

Route
The Spirit of Capricorn commenced service on the 3rd July 1989 as the Main Line Electrification Project between Caboolture and Gladstone was completed. Initially, the InterCity Express sets ordered for this service had been in use from 1988 to operate services to Nambour, and then to Gympie North as the line was energised. The Spirit of Capricorn route follows the North Coast line alignment, the same as the loco-hauled Capricornian service. Due to the introduction of the Spirit of Capricorn, the Capricornian service was reduced to three times per week, eventually merging with the Midlander to form the Spirit of the Outback in 1993. The service ran from Roma Street Station to Rockhampton Station, stopping at several stations including Nambour, Gympie North, Bundaberg and Gladstone. Service time on the route was reduced by over 3 hours, with the Spirit of Capricorn completing the journey in around 9 hours, as opposed to the Capricornian completing the journey (post electrification) in a little over 12 hours and 30 minutes.

Onboard
The service onboard the Spirit of Capricorn was marketed as "airline style". The seating layout was in a 2 x 1 "First Class" setup, with a to-seat trolley service offered in lieu of a dining or lounge car. The trolley service was stocked from aircraft style galleys that featured ovens, fridges and urns. Seating was reversible so that groups could be seated together, and originally featured a yellow and green fabric which matched the exterior colour scheme of the InterCity Express sets. An in-seat audio system was also provided.

Demise
Queensland Rail introduced the Electric Tilt Train service in 1998 which ran between Brisbane and Bundaberg/Rockhampton. A reduced travel time was achieved due to the Tilt Train's 160 km/h (99 mph) operating speed combined with a tilting system; this technology and speed was superior to the Spirit of Capricorn's InterCity Express sets. Due to this, the Spirit of Capricorn services were reduced to once a week, departing Brisbane for Rockhampton on Saturday Morning and returning with passengers from Rockhampton to Brisbane on Sunday morning only as required.

Spirit of Capricorn services ended on the 24th May 2003 after the introduction of the new Diesel Tilt Train service operating from Brisbane to Cairns. The InterCity Express sets were re-allocated to operate Citytrain services, primarily serving the Sunshine Coast Line. The remaining InterCity Express sets were retired from service in November 2021.