Queensland unveils Brisbane rail expansion strategy

AUSTRALIA: A pipeline of investment valued at more than A$20bn will support the long-term expansion of the southeast Queensland rail network under proposals published by the state government on August 2.

In addition to the A$5·4bn Cross River Rail link now being built through central Brisbane, the government has committed A$7·15bn towards the enhancement programme. This is intended to support rapid population growth, with more than 80 000 people migrating to Queensland over the past two years and an extra 1·5 million inhabitants projected to be living in the 12-area metropolitan region by 2036.

SEQ Rail Connect sets out a phased programme of investment and development projects. An initial tranche of works is to be completed in time for the opening of Cross River Rail in 2025, with further enhancements ahead of Brisbane hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic games.

‘The Palaszczuk government has been carefully and progressively making the sorts of investments in rail that will completely transform the way we travel throughout the southeast of this state’, said Minister of Transport & Main Roads Mark Bailey. ‘We aren’t just building Cross River Rail, we’re building a brand new network.’

Short-term projects include the roll-out of ETCS Level 2 across the SEQ network, plus the retrofitting of 75 New Generation Rollingstock EMUs for Automatic Train Operation through the Cross River Rail tunnels, where platform screen doors will be provided at the underground stations.

Capacity enhancement schemes include double-tracking of the Beerburrum – Nambour and Kuraby – Beenleigh lines, station refurbishments and the procurement of 65 new trains to be assembled in Maryborough. Funding is also being provided for the planning of new lines to the Sunshine Coast, Springfield to Ipswich and Salisbury to Beaudesert.

Service restructuring

Service patterns across the entire network are to be reconfigured ready for the opening of Cross River Rail. This is intended to segregate the service groups that will be rerouted through the new tunnels from other routes, avoiding conflicting movements at key junctions. There will also be greater differentiation between ‘suburban’ services serving all stations up to 30 km from the capital and longer-distance trains which would run fast through the inner areas before serving stations further afield.

Services are to be grouped into three ‘sectors’:

• Gold Coast and Beenleigh to Nambour and the Redcliffe Peninsula via Cross River Rail;
• Rosewood, Ipswich and Springfield to Doomben, Airport and Shorncliffe via Brisbane Central;
• Ferny Grove to Cleveland via Central and Southbank.

All routes will interchange at Roma Street, where underground platforms for Cross River Rail are being built under the existing station.