Rail ambulance

A rail ambulance is a vehicle used for medical transportation services on railway lines.

Queensland is a vast, relatively unpopulated area, where providing services to remote communities in a cost-effective way has been a continual challenge.

Railways were built from 1865, and in many areas provided the major form of transport until a significant road improvement program was commenced by the Queensland government from the 1960s.

It was in this context that the mining community of Blair Athol introduced the first rail ambulance in 1918, in order to enable injured people to be transported to the nearest hospital at Clermont.

[1] The idea rapidly spread, with rail ambulances being introduced at Dalby (1919), Mount Mulligan (1920), Roma and Charleville (1922), Goondiwindi and Baralaba (1923), Cloncurry (1925) and Blackall (1941).