A TRANSPORT lobby group says the Cleveland line must be duplicated before 2025 as it will have a critical role to play when Cross River Rail services begin.
It comes after trains on the line failed to hit Queensland Rail's on-time performance target during February.
Lobby group Rail Back on Track and the state opposition have long campaigned for the track to be duplicated between Cleveland and Manly.
Group spokesman Robert Dow said the upgrade needed to happen by the opening of Cross River Rail to make the network more reliable.
"It is going to provide the main train access from Park Road through South Brisbane," he said. "It is the only line that will be going through there.
"Beenleigh and Gold Coast will be switched over to go into the tunnel, so the Cleveland line needs to be able to deliver a good frequency of trains."
Mr Dow said the poor on-time performance of trains on the Cleveland line was a reflection of the single track between Manly and Cleveland.
"If you have a look at the original business case for Cross River Rail, they were suggesting 10 trains an hour from Cleveland," he said.
"That is only possible if the line is duplicated.
"It only takes a train to be held up slightly at a platform ... and it throws the whole thing out.
"The Cleveland line doesn't perform that well overall because of the single line."
Oodgeroo MP Mark Robinson said it was time the rail duplication and eastern busway projects were fast-tracked.
"Sadly the Bligh Labor government cut state funding for the rail duplication and busway in the 2011-12 budget and forward estimates, derailing plans for a 2026 completion date for both projects," he said.
"So the Palaszczuk Government must reinstate these two big ticket items that they downscaled and then work constructively with the Morrison LNP government and bring them back on track for the 2032 Olympics."
Transport Minister Mark Bailey said Cross River Rail needed to be completed before the government looked at proposals for the Cleveland line.
"Experts from multiple agencies will determine the exact configuration and timing of rail services well ahead of Cross River Rail opening," he said.
"There are 800 more weekly train services running in south east Queensland under the Palaszczuk Labor Government, which is more services than have ever run before."
Mr Dow believed there was a good chance the track would be upgraded.
"There was a study done a number of years ago by TMR ... and they do have options to do a duplication and do it relatively quickly," he said.
"If you have a look at the train disruption notices on Translink, trains are quite often disrupted because of disruptions on the Cleveland line. It flows through the entire network in some cases."
Mr Bailey said Mr Robinson and the LNP had been attempting to cast doubt on Cross River Rail using figures in the project's 2017 business case.
"Since those forecasts were made, we've had a pandemic that has caused public transport patronage to drop, council's Metro has come into the frame and we're talking about south east Queensland hosting the Olympics," he said.
"The point is, circumstances change and will continue to change."
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