Cross River Rail (CRR) is an underground heavy rail project currently under construction in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The project will see the development of a new rail line underneath the Brisbane River, together with the redevelopment of a number of stations in the Brisbane central business district as well as the Beenleigh railway line. The business case for the project was released in August 2017, with construction officially beginning in September 2017.[1][2] The project replaced the planned 2013 BaT Tunnel, which in turn replaced the original 2010 Cross River Rail proposal.[3] It is the largest infrastructure megaproject ever undertaken in Queensland.
Cross River Rail consists of a new 10.2 km (6.3 mi) line through the CBD from Dutton Park in the city's south to Bowen Hills in the city's north, connecting existing Brisbane rail lines. The project includes 5.9 km (3.7 mi) of twin tunnels and will deliver four new underground stations at Boggo Road, Woolloongabba, Albert Street and Roma Street, with Exhibition station upgraded. Tunnelling for the project was completed in 2021, with construction planned to be complete by 2025 and the new line operational by early 2026.[4]
The project provides a second rail crossing of the Brisbane river due to concerns that the only inner-city rail river crossing, the Merivale Bridge, would reach capacity.[5] According to the project's business case, without the new tunnel overcrowding on most lines would be expected by 2026.[1] Cross River Rail is considered to be the highest infrastructure priority by the Queensland Government.[6] Infrastructure Australia evaluated the business case in 2017 and expressed concerns that the rail patronage projections may not be achieved and that the benefits in the business case may be overstated.[7] However, Infrastructure Australia still listed Cross River Rail as a priority project.
Under the plan, Queensland Rail Citytrain will operate in three sectors, all connecting at the existing or new underground Roma Street stations. Sector One will connect the Gold and Sunshine Coasts directly, operating trains from Varsity Lakes and Beenleigh through to Redcliffe Peninsula, Nambour and Gympie. Sector Two will link the Rosewood and Springfield lines through Central to the domestic airport and Shorncliffe. Sector Three will run Ferny Grove trains through Central and Southbank to Cleveland.[8]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
bc2017was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ BaT Tunnel scrapped as government looks for different cross river rail line Archived 9 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Brisbane Times 6 March 2015
- ^ O'Neal, Danielle (31 March 2023). "Queensland government reveals Cross River Rail cost blowout of $960 million, now not due to open til 2026". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
- ^ Sarah Vogler; Steven Wardill (13 June 2017). "Queensland Budget: $2 billion for Cross River Rail". The Courier-Mail. News Corp. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
- ^ "Cross River Rail". Infrastructure projects. The State of Queensland. 9 May 2017. Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
- ^ "Project Evaluation Summary: Cross River Rail" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "Gold Coast, Beenleigh rail users face major changes as Brisbane's Cross River Rail network is revealed - ABC News". Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.