Brisbane to Townsville runs about 7 times a day, with the first departure around 06:41 and the last around 16:53. One passenger pays between €95.13 and €114.01, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 5h 2m over 1,124 km, on services run by 2 operators across 2 modes.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 2 operators and 2 ways of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares
€95.13 to €114.01
- 215%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Brisbane
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:41First departure
- 16:53Last departure
- 7Services per day
- 43%Run direct
Queensland Rail runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this trip
Bookaway lists departures for Brisbane to Townsville on your date, and you pay on their side.
See Brisbane to Townsville on Bookaway
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €242.34Tue15
- about €196.14Wed16
- about €261.04Thu17
- about €177.14Fri18
- about €214.90Sat19
- about €179.50Sun20
- about €159.44Mon21
- about €112.54Tue22
- about €132.89Wed23
- about €178.91Thu24
- about €137.61Fri25
- about €144.69Sat26
- about €152.14Sun27
- about €114.01Mon28
- about €95.13Tue29
- about €120.79Wed30
- about €133.48Thu1
- about €111.99Fri2
- about €107.04Sat3
- about €98.79Sun4
- about €94.39Mon5
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The flight gets you into Townsville. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Townsville for the night the flight gets in
Sort by distance from Townsville railway station and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Townsville on AgodaOr compare on Booking.com
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Brisbane to Townsville
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €113.6490 days
- €99.3460 days
- €102.8045 days
- €82.8430 days
- €94.3921 days
- €114.0114 days
- €159.447 days
- €261.043 days
- €242.341 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 30 days ahead, at €82.84.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 215 percent. The most expensive point is €261.04, 3 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 30 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 30 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Brisbane to Townsville and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
1,124 km
1,111 km as the crow flies, 1% further by the route services actually take. The bearing runs north-west.
Who lives at each end
2,780,063 → 201,313
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
2/4
2 of these connections were inferred from service-area overlap rather than observed in a timetable. We would rather say so.
The route
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 56% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 44% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 1,124 km against 1,111 km in a straight line, a detour of 1 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Sunshine Coast, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone. The gap between arriving and leaving is 53 minutes, of which about 14 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 18 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
Who runs this route
The flight gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Baggage storage near Townsville railway station
Most of the points near Townsville railway station open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Townsville on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Brisbane to Townsville
The questions people actually ask about this trip, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Brisbane to Townsville?
The fastest journey from Brisbane to Townsville takes 5h 2m door to door, of which 1h 52m is spent moving, on the flight. Most services take around 7h 22m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Brisbane to Townsville?
The cheapest fare from Brisbane to Townsville is €94.39, as of September 14, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €181.29. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Brisbane to Townsville?
The cheapest way from Brisbane to Townsville is by train, at €112.54 for one passenger on October 5, 2026. That journey takes 8h 38m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
What is the fastest way to get from Brisbane to Townsville?
The fastest way from Brisbane to Townsville is by flight, at 5h 2m door to door. Only 1h 52m of that is spent moving; the remaining 3h 10m is reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end. The cheapest fare on that mode is €114.01.
When should I book Brisbane to Townsville?
Fares from Brisbane to Townsville bottom out around 30 days before departure, at €82.84. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 215 percent, measured on September 14, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Brisbane to Townsville?
Tuesday is the cheapest day to depart from Brisbane to Townsville, at €112.54. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of September 14, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Brisbane to Townsville?
December is the cheapest of the next 6 months to travel from Brisbane to Townsville, at €91.00 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs service from Brisbane to Townsville?
2 operators sell services from Brisbane to Townsville across 2 modes: Queensland Rail, Virgin Australia. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Brisbane to Townsville?
56 percent of the services we sell from Brisbane to Townsville are direct. The rest connect at Sunshine Coast, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, with about 53 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
How much CO2 does the journey from Brisbane to Townsville produce?
Traveling from Brisbane to Townsville by train produces about 36.7 kg of CO2 per passenger, the lowest of any mode on this corridor. The same journey by Flight produces about 281.4 kg, roughly 8 times as much for one passenger.
Which station or terminal do services from Brisbane to Townsville use?
Services from Brisbane to Townsville by flight leave from Brisbane BNE and arrive at Townsville TSV. Allow about 3h 10m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Brisbane to Townsville?
1 of the 2 operators we sell from Brisbane to Townsville allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Observed service A carrier record shows this named operator serving this named pair, and we carry that through unchanged.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Brisbane to Townsville on September 14, 2026: 1124 km of route against 1111 km in a straight line, 9 services a day, 2 operators a cheapest fare of €94.39, and 5h 2m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Being on the water gives Townsville a set of days out that do not start at a station. We do not sell those either.
Day trips out of Townsville and across Australia
Day trips that leave Townsville in the morning and cover a good part of Australia by evening.
See Townsville on KlookOr browse GetYourGuide
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Brisbane reaches 53 places in 21 countries on services we hold, over distances from 71 to 12,333 km. Townsville reaches 11 places in 1 countries, from 283 to 1,681 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Brisbane
- 53Places you can leave for
- 21Countries
- 32Operators
Arriving in Townsville
Leaving Townsville
- 11Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 6Operators