The Kuranda Scenic Railway operates from Cairns to Kuranda Village. The scenic journey offers spectacular views over the coast and the coral sea as the trains climbs onto the Atherton Tablelands. While the train operates from Cairns Central Station, most tourists elect to join the train at Freshwater Station, 20 mins from the Cairns CBD. There is disabled parking available immediately in front of the station with level access from the carpark into the building. Cars may be parked in these bays all day.
Immediately inside the station, the ticket office is to the left. With ample room for wheelchair users to purchase or collect pre-purchased tickets. To the right, a ramp leads down to the station waiting area and food vendors. An accessible toilet is available on this level.
At the far end of the waiting area, a ramp leads down onto the platform, immediately adjacent to the assistance area. People with a disability board the train into carriage 6. Carriage 6 is an open carriage with doubled opening doors to accommodate the wheelchair lift.
Inside the carriage the area opposite the doors is clear space with 4 tie-down points for wheelchairs. Tie-down is optional with wheelchair users being free to move around the carriage to take in the views on either side of the train. To the rear of the carriage is a seating area. One seat is removed to allow a wheelchair users to sit with the rest of their travelling party. At the front of the carriage is an accessible toilet facility equipped with a push-button self-opening door. In addition to the standard hand rails next to and behind the toilet the room is equipped with a handrail the full length of the room to assist with movement on a moving train.
The short path from the station to the carpark level, which is also the entry to Skyrail, has a couple of tricky steep pinches which may require some assistance for manual wheelchair users. The steepness should not be a problem for the majority of power chair users. From the carpark, a long ramp leads into the village. It is accessed from the station side of the carpark. The ramp is long and while rest areas are provided it is quite an effort to reach the level area of Kuranda Village.
The only stop on the journey is at the Barron Falls Station. This is a 10 minute stop to view the falls. At this point in time there are no facilities available at Barron Falls to allow for the disembarkation of wheelchair using travellers, although there are plans to provide a system in the future. The falls can be viewed from the train carriage.
On arrival into Kuranda, passengers are met by the assistance team with the same design lift as was used at Freshwater.
From the platform a lift is available to take passengers to street level.
