Next step for Cross River Rail

The Queensland Government last week announced plans to establish an authority to deliver Cross River Rail.

The Cross River Rail Delivery Authority would deliver the new 10.2 kilometre alignment, including 5.9 kilometres of tunnel, which will provide the Brisbane inner-city rail link from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills.

“Cross River Rail is not only a critical infrastructure project but also a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape Brisbane through this major city-making initiative,” said Acting Premier Jackie Trad in a statement.

“With South East Queensland’s population set to grow to 4.9 million by 2036, Cross River Rail is the state’s number one infrastructure project to boost network capacity in the region and unlock economic opportunity and productivity for our state.

“Almost half the state’s total jobs growth will occur in Brisbane and without an effective transport system to accommodate growth, Infrastructure Australia estimate the cost of congestion in the region could total $9 billion each year.

“Once operational, Cross River Rail will provide the equivalent capacity of a 30-lane highway and will provide faster and more effective connections to jobs throughout the region.

“As our Government has said publicly many times, major infrastructure projects of this scale require cooperation, support and funding from all three levels of government.

“That’s why we have asked the Federal Government and Brisbane City Council to partner with us, along with private capital, to deliver this vital second rail river crossing that will ensure our city has the rail infrastructure it needs to accommodate future population growth.

The updated business case based on the new alignment is anticipated to be completed in mid-2016.

The Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning and the Department of Transport and Main Roads are co-sponsoring investigations to finalise the preferred delivery model and specialist advisers from KPMG and Clayton Utz have been engaged.

A full range of options are being canvassed including using a dedicated government office, establishing a Statutory Authority or a Government Owned Company (enabled by Corporations Act). These options will be presented to government for consideration shortly.

The Cross River Rail project team will engage with the community later this year.