Korean Firm Joins Queensland Train Manufacturing Plans

Plans to return train manufacturing to Queensland have been boosted with a major overseas firm signing a $30-million deal.

The deal involves Korean company Hyundai Rotem establishing a standalone presence on the Fraser Coast with the purchase of an industrial site and plans to establish a factory to produce sub-components for train car bodies.

The Hyundai Rotem facility is in addition to the Queensland Train Manufacturing Program site being built at Torbanlea at a facility operated by Downer Group.

Downer was awarded the Design Build Maintain Contract for the program this year and has partnered with the Hyundai Rotem Corporation for the manufacturing of the 65 new trains.

Major works are under way at the Torbanlea facility to transform a former pineapple farm into Australia’s newest state-of-the-art train manufacturing facility.

The government said the Queensland Train Manufacturing Program would support 800 construction and manufacturing jobs.

Hyundai Rotem will use roll forming to produce the components.

Roll forming involves the continuous bending of a long strip of sheet metal (typically coiled steel) to make sub-components for train car bodies.

This kind of component has been made overseas for decades but will now be made on the Fraser Coast, creating 20 jobs.

▲ A render of the manufacturing facility under construction near Maryborough on Queensland’s Fraser Coast.

Once the first train has been built in 2026, it will begin testing before entering passenger services in 2027.

All 65 trains are expected to be in service in time for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games while helping to run additional services that will be delivered by the Cross River Rail and Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail projects.

A co-design process was ongoing with the disability sector to inform the design of the new trains to ensure they were compliant, functional, and accessible for all passengers, the government said.

Early works to upgrade local intersections within Torbanlea started in August 2022 ahead of the start of construction on the train manufacturing facility.

Minister for Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey said the project would “train a new generation of highly skilled Queensland workers in train manufacturing, which will have long-term benefits to our economy, transport infrastructure and manufacturing industry”.