In October 2010, the Queensland Government awarded a contract to Downer Rail for the construction of a new Tilt Train. The two existing diesel tilt trains used on the Cairns service were also refurbished and extended in size, with the inclusion of first-class sleeping carriages. Known as the 'Sunlander 14' project, a total of 25 carriages would have been acquired:
10 new carriages to expand the two existing train sets to a 14-car consist,
refurbishment of 14 existing carriages from the existing train sets
By expanding the train length from nine to 14 carriages, three 'luxury' sleeping carriages, one 'first-class' lounge and one restaurant car could be included in the consist, replicating the services provided on The Sunlander. The construction of four new power cars allowed for the inclusion of the most up-to-date safety features in the driving car of each train, as well as minimising the risk of disruptions in the event that an incident occurred while a second power car was undergoing heavy maintenance. The resulting project was costed at $195 million and allowed for the operation of five services a week, with a total capacity of 1320 seats. However, costs had risen by 2012, and the Queensland Auditor-General reported that the eventual cost would be from $358 to $404 million, because Queensland Rail had failed to take into account the requirement for upgraded maintenance facilities, as well as en route provisioning. The Auditor-General also believed Queensland Rail had overestimated how popular the new service would be, and had a mistaken belief that the 'luxury' component of the train would attract more high-paying customers. In 2013, the project was scaled back, with the train length being reduced to nine cars by removing the luxury sleepers and restaurant cars. That resulted in a revised project cost of $204 million. In October 2013, the first refurbished Tilt Train entered service on the existing Brisbane to Cairns service. With the introduction of the Tilt Train, which has a maximum speed of 160 km/h, the journey time was reduced to 24 hours 55 minutes.
Rolling stock
Each Spirit of Queensland train consists of:
two power cars to drive the train and supply power to the carriages,
two 'railbed' sleeper cars with airline style lie-flat seating,
