New year to bring end in sight for parts of Cross River Rail build

2 months ago 16

The Cross River Rail’s underground CBD stations are expected to complete their fit-out within a year alongside, alongside the above-ground Albert Street “green spine”, which will open within months.

However, with the route requiring years of testing – revealed by the state government late last year – the completed stations are expected to sit empty for years.

Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said on Saturday the project would stick firm to its revised 2029 delivery date, three years later than originally planned, and new price tag of $19.04 billion.

The Albert Street Cross River Rail Station has a mezzanine level 25 metres below the surface, a platform 32 metres deep, and is rose-gold themed.

“Works are really ramping up, and we’re getting on with the job of delivering this really important project,” he said.

Mickelberg said he was the project would meet its new deadline because of productivity boosts at its worksites, which he credited to his government’s hardline stance against the CFMEU, revealed through a state-commissioned report and two hearings of the ongoing inquiry to have created a “culture of violence” at select government worksites.

“What we want to see is worksites that are safe and productive,” Mickelberg said.

He said the number of workers at the Albert Street site had more than doubled since late 2024, from about 150 workers to 350.

Cross River Rail Delivery Authority chief executive Graeme Newton said the main difference in the site had been an increase in job security for his workers.

During budget hearings this year, Newton blamed the delays on a range of factors, including 148 days of industrial action taken by workers in 2024.

On Saturday, Newton said the project was “well past halfway” complete as the year neared its end, and said the delivery authority had largely completed construction across the four CBD stations.

“There’s been a lot of work happening through effectively keyhole surgery at the ground level [and] below ground,” Newton said.

“This next 12 months, we’ll see a lot of the construction work and the architectural [works] done.

“Meanwhile, we’re planning for the next phase which is the testing and commissioning, and it’s a very complex project, with a lot of moving parts.”

Newton said above-ground elements, including the Albert Street “green spine”, a pedestrian plaza spanning between Elizabeth and Mary streets, through the inner-city.

Cross River Rail Delivery Authority chief executive Graeme Newton.

“Significant progress has been made – there are already sections of it have already been opened up,” he said.

“In the early part of next year we’ll see the first section open up down to Charlotte Street, and then the next section will open up progressively as it is made safe for pedestrians to move through.”

Newton said parts of Brisbane CBD near the green spine would be roped off across December and into January to enable more intensive works on the street level, and said train travel would also be restricted.

“This is really the best time of year to do it … we’re relocating tracks, signals, overhead lines – that work just can’t be done with trains moving across it,” he said.

CRR’s general manager of communications Russell Vine said the spacious design of the tunnel and stations will create “a giant underground boulevard” and avoid the claustrophobia of a lot of underground infrastructure.

“It allows the stations [to be] really generous with space, so sometimes you go in underground stations and they feel quite enclosed,” he said.

“If you go to say the Elizabeth line in London, or if you go to the new metro line in Sydney, or if you go to Melbourne, quite curvy, here we’re really angular and great, and that’s because the architect who designed the stations wanted it to be an homage to the verandah of a Queenslander house.”

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