Australian Living | Unstoppable Despite the Pandemic: Brisbane's Cross River Rail Breaks Ground

This pandemic has dealt a major blow to the global economy. However, even in these unusual circumstances, several Queensland Government projects are being fast-tracked. Among them, Brisbane's largest-ever infrastructure project, the Cross River Rail, has already broken ground.

Brisbane currently has only one inner-city rail line crossing the river. Cross River Rail is Queensland's largest infrastructure project to date, costing A$5.4 billion. The cross-river line is a 10.2 km rail line running from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills, including twin tunnels beneath 5.9 km of the Brisbane River and the Brisbane CBD. This project will address the serious capacity issues across the rail network.

The project will build four new underground stations at Boggo Road, Woolloongabba, Albert Street and Roma Street. It will also upgrade eight surface stations, including: Salisbury, Rocklea, Moorooka, Yeerongpilly, Yeronga, Fairfield, Dutton Park and Exhibition.

At present, the bus station at the Brisbane Transit Centre's location on Roma Street has been permanently closed. Demolition of the station's surface building — the 22-storey Jens Hotel — has been under way for several months. On 18 May, tunnel excavation officially began, and the new Roma Street train station will take the place of the Brisbane Transit Centre.

The Woolloongabba station is the master plan for this large-scale district development. Thanks to the Cross River Rail project, this involves the refurbishment of the Gabba Stadium, new construction and pedestrian walkway connections, and a mixed-use precinct built around the new station.

As construction progresses, people's travel will also be affected to some extent:

1. Roma Street bus station closure. The bus station will be closed for up to 15 weeks from 18 May. Because a large number of bus services are affected, the government will set up temporary bus stops.

2. On weekends and public holidays, train services will occasionally be temporarily suspended for construction.

3. During the 12-month demolition works, streets around Roma Street will be briefly closed.

4. For 15 weeks from 18 May, the Inner North will be rerouted. Buses that originally travelled via the Inner North will depart from King George Square station and run to Roma Street. As a result, there will be a temporary new stop at Roma Street.

5. At Albert Street station, demolition works are largely complete, and there is a pedestrian tunnel between Mary St and Albert St connecting the two roads.