QR Traveltrain long-distance passenger services similarly use the Exhibition line to arrive at and depart from Roma Street station.

Empty City network and Traveltrain sets also use the line to access the Normanby train washing facility and the Mayne locomotive and electric depot.

When the Roma St to Sandgate railway opened in 1882, it had been constructed via Normanby to avoid the need for land resumptions through the Brisbane CBD.

When the locomotive and carriage sheds were relocated from Roma St to Mayne in 1927, the line was duplicated to deal with the additional empty trains travelling to and from Brisbane's main terminating station.

[citation needed] Passengers for/from the Airport, Doomben, Caboolture, Ferny Grove, Nambour and Gympie North, Redcliffe Peninsula and Shorncliffe lines change at Central or Fortitude Valley, and Beenleigh, Cleveland, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Rosewood and Springfield lines at Roma Street.