Getting to the Ekka: the show's brand-new train station

Exhibition station reopens for 2026 · live services · updates automatically

From GoThere Brisbane, the free live journey planner for South East Queensland.

The Royal Queensland Show, the Ekka, runs from 8 to 16 August 2026, its 150th year, and trains run right into the Showgrounds. Exhibition station, rebuilt as part of Cross River Rail and back in service since 2025 after years closed for the works, opens again for the show, so you step off the train and you're already at the Ekka. Here's the line it runs on, how it actually works, how to get there by train and bus, the live service times, and the way home after the fireworks. Every trip is a flat 50c fare.

Most Ekka guides hand you a static timetable that's out of date the moment a service changes. This one is built differently: through the show, the live boards further down pull the real Exhibition and Bowen Hills service times straight from the network and refresh on their own, so you're always looking at the next actual train, not last year's schedule. That is the whole point of doing this on GoThere rather than a printed handout.

Which line? The Exhibition line, or “Ekka Loop”

Exhibition station sits on its own short branch, the Exhibition line, better known as the Ekka Loop. It curves off the main north line near Bowen Hills and links back to Roma Street, and it only wakes up when the Showgrounds have a big event on. During the Ekka, dedicated services run around the loop straight into Exhibition, which is why you won't find the station in an everyday timetable.

In plain terms: you don't start at Exhibition, you start in the city. Board at Roma Street, Central or Fortitude Valley, and an Ekka Loop train runs you the last short stretch straight into the Showgrounds. Through the show they run roughly every 20 minutes or better, so you're rarely waiting long, and it's the same flat 50c fare. Coming from further out, from the Gold Coast, Ipswich, Caboolture or the Sunshine Coast, just ride into the city first and step across to an Ekka service.

The first loop service leaves Roma Street about 8:30am on weekdays and about 8:37am on weekends, with the gates opening at 9am, so the earliest trains are the quiet ones. Two dates catch people out: a public holiday timetable runs on Monday 10 and Wednesday 12 August, which means a thinner service on the rest of the network even though only the Wednesday is a gazetted holiday. If you're travelling in from further out on either of those days, leave a little more room than you think you need.

By train: landing inside the show

On show days, special Ekka trains run to Exhibition from around the network via the city. From most lines you travel into the city and onto the Ekka Loop, with no change of ticket and no premium: it's the same flat 50c fare. Because the station sits inside the grounds, you walk off the platform and you're at the Ekka. The special services show up in the live panel above and in the journey planner once the show is on.

How far is the Ekka from your line?

Because the Ekka sits at Bowen Hills, one stop from Central, it's really just a city trip from anywhere on the network. Here's the scheduled train time to central Brisbane from the end of each SEQ line, straight from our own timetable data, so you can see how quick the show actually is from your part of town. Nearest first, and every one of these is a flat 50c.

Scheduled ride time to central Brisbane from GoThere's timetable data; the Ekka is one stop on at Bowen Hills, so real times land within a few minutes, plus the wait for your service. Every trip is 50c whatever the distance, which is a story in itself: see how far 50 cents can take you.

The station that wakes up nine days a year

Exhibition is unlike any other station in South East Queensland: it has no everyday timetable at all. For roughly nine days each August it helps move a slice of the Ekka's 400,000-odd visitors, then it falls silent for another year. That makes it one of the most seasonal stations in the country, dark for about fifty weeks and then, for one week, one of the busiest platforms in Brisbane.

The station you'll use in 2026 is brand new. It was rebuilt as part of Cross River Rail and reopened in 2025, and for now it runs only for the Ekka and selected major Showgrounds events until the wider Cross River Rail lines open later this decade.

Is there a steam train to the Ekka in 2026?

Here's what it looks like, so you know what you're turning up for. In 2025, for Queensland Rail's 160th birthday, a heritage steam train returned to the Ekka for the first time in six years: a 1920s-era BB18¼ locomotive, affectionately known as “Bety”, puffing from Roma Street into Exhibition on People's Day, the Wednesday public holiday. It ran a handful of services across the morning and early afternoon, and you could board at Roma Street and ride the loop to Exhibition, or stay on for the round trip back, all on the same flat 50c fare with no extra ticket. The catch: heritage carriages, so limited seats, limited accessibility, and times that can drift with the age of the loco.

Expect the same this year: board at Roma Street, ride the loop into Exhibition, or stay on for the round trip back, all on the one 50c fare. Queensland Rail lists the individual steam times separately from the Ekka Loop timetable and they can drift with the age of the loco, so treat any run time you see as approximate and get there early. If you miss it, the ordinary Ekka Loop train runs into the grounds every day of the show, every 20 minutes or better, for the same 50c, and you can see it live in the service panel above.

The rest of the year: Bowen Hills

Live departures from the Showgrounds' everyday station, a short walk from the gates, and your backup any time an Exhibition service isn't running.

Outside show time, concerts, expos and markets at the Showgrounds run via Bowen Hills station too. The full venue rundown is in our RNA Showgrounds guide.

By bus

The bus answer most people miss is Herston station, right beside the Showgrounds: fourteen regular routes serve it, so there is usually a bus that works without a change. The two to know are the M2 Metro and route 333, both high-frequency turn-up-and-go services, backed by the 330, 331 and 340 expresses.

Buses also pass along Gregory Terrace, St Pauls Terrace and O'Connell Terrace on the Fortitude Valley and Bowen Hills edge. The closest stop is O'Connell Terrace near Bowen Bridge Road, about a six minute walk from the gates, and dedicated Ekka shuttle buses run during the show. Which route suits you depends on where you're starting, so plan your bus with the live journey planner, which routes you around the Ekka road closures on the day. Fortitude Valley is an easy walk too if your service drops you there.

Show-day tactics

• Go in early, leave off-peak: mid-morning arrivals and pre-fireworks exits skip the crushes.
• Don't drive: event clearways and scarce, pricey parking make Bowen Hills a tow-truck lottery during the show. Park-and-ride from a station out on your line and let the train do the last bit.
• Know your last train before the fireworks: last service home shows tonight's real final departures, and the big event nights guide covers the getting-home playbook.

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