North Rail Yards

The Townsville North Rail Yards is a significant heritage place for the city of Townsville.

Established in the 1880s, the North Rail Yards served as a maintenance and construction depot for Queensland Rail for over a century and was identified as a place of innovation in the 1900s, until the workshops were permanently closed in 1990.

Council purchased the lots in 2015 for $20,000 from Queensland Rail, with the long-term vision to rejuvenate the significant heritage buildings in North Rail Yards.

The project will create a southern gateway into Townsville city and support high-density residential housing with commercial and cultural activities that educate and celebrate our city’s heritage and future.

The North Rail Yards will be an active and exciting precinct that provides contemporary use of the rail heritage buildings, retaining their key architectural form and historical elements while respectfully integrating the intent of the Priority Development Area.

In 2022 Council established the North Rail Yards Ltd company to kick-start the project and secure a developer.  In late 2024 Townsville-based developer BM Webb, operating under the Flinders St Rail brand, was appointed to oversee development of the site.

Council subsequently secured $35 million in State Government funding toward the extensive remediation and heritage stabilisation works required, with the developer expected to match this investment privately to complete the works.

Under advice from Queensland Treasury, Council voted in late 2025 to dissolve North Rail Yards Ltd and protect ratepayers with the staged transfer of lots to Flinders St Rail, who will assume full risk.

The development of higher density residential housing and vibrant, mixed-used spaces in the Waterfront Priority Development Area is critical to the future growth of Townsville, with the population forecast to grow by at least 40,000 over the next 15 years.

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