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At Brisbane’s loneliest train station, the noisiest thing you’ll hear while waiting is the whir of fans emanating from the modern, hot-pink smart ticketing machine on platform one.
Only about 70 people hop on board a train at Ascot each day, on average, making it Brisbane’s lowest patronage station.
With just 25,566 people getting on a train there over the entire 2024-25 year, it’s a far cry from the hustle at Central station, which has an annual patronage of 9.8 million.
On a winter school holiday morning with bright blue skies, John Miles arrives to the almost deserted platform a few minutes ahead of the 9.01am service to the city.
Only about two or three people hop on or off each train that stops at Ascot on the morning we visit.
But despite its low patronage, Ascot train station accommodates 342 services per week for the blue chip suburb, known for its wealth and grand homes, 6 kilometres north of Brisbane’s CBD.
Miles has been living in the area for almost 60 years, and prefers to catch the train rather than the bus.
“It’s got heritage value,” he said.
“I don’t mind that it’s quiet, as long as they keep the trains running.”
The station opened in 1882 to transport crowds to the horse races, with the racetrack sitting next to the station.
Previously named the Racecourse Railway Station, it was renamed Ascot, after the famous racing track in England, in 1897 – the same year the railway line was extended to Pinkenba to serve the industrial area.
All passenger services were suspended on the line in 1993, except on major race days, as part of a program to rationalise underused lines.
But passenger services resumed in January 1998, taking travellers as far as Doomben. The other stations have been left abandoned, and the single track Doomben to Pinkenba section is now used only for freight or the occasional special event steam train.
In 2026, despite not having a station master, Ascot is well-kept, and still dripping in history.
Along with the Eagle Farm Racecourse, it was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2004. Its timber and concrete station buildings are classic examples of Queensland architecture from the Federation period – although the timber station building and platform two are no longer in use.
There’s a pedestrian overpass to reach platform two – where “Ascot” signs from another era still hang – but the overpass gate is locked, and the timber station office is behind a wooden fence.
On platform one, three wooden benches provide more than enough seating for anyone waiting for a train to the city, which arrives every half-hour on weekdays and every hour on weekends.
There are no vending machines or lifts and the bathrooms are shut off with a padlock, despite a fresh plastic bag lining a small bin inside and a handwritten sign still affixed to the wall asking visitors to “Turn OFF The Light”.
Another sign advises the nearest public toilet is 50 metres across the road in Ascot Park.
Ascot is the last station in Brisbane, and one of only seven in Queensland, to still have a once-common mechanically interlocked signalling system, known as a semaphore signal, used before the process widely became electric.
Hannah White tells us she’s on her second day of travelling from Ascot station.
She’s switched her bus commute for the train to get to a new job in the city, as sticking with the bus would mean a much longer walk.
“It’s just more convenient working that side of the city to get the train,” she said.
“It’s helpful having the direct line from Ascot straight to Roma Street.”
Other stations on the Doomben line, including Hendra just a 900-metre walk away and Doomben 1.2 kilometres away, join Ascot in the top 10 quietest stations in Brisbane.
Bhavana Sharma, who arrives to work in Ascot from Carseldine, says the station feels safe. Even though it’s quiet, there’s usually someone around, she says, including private school children on their way to class.
“It’s not lots of people but still every half an hour they have a train here,” she said.
While Ascot is a ghost town at times, the quietest station in south-east Queensland is Traveston, with just 274 people boarding in 2024-25.
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