Early works for the project began in August 2017, which included borehole drilling, subsurface public utility investigations, baseline monitoring, demolition works, and the construction of the temporary Coach Terminal at Roma Street.
Major contractors commenced construction works for the project in late 2019.
The Rail Integration and Systems (RIS) Alliance is the first two major packages.
The Alliance involves the design, supply and installation management of key work disciplines across the entire project and integration of the CRR into the Queensland Rail (QR) network comprising:
- Rail civil and electrical works
- Brownfield rail surface works primarily to the north of the tunnel, including the upgrade of Exhibition
- Station and a major augmentation of Mayne Yard
- Rail operational systems works
- Rail signalling works and communication
- Integration and commission activities
The Tunnel, Stations and Development (TSD) Public Private Partnership (PPP)—the second and larger of two major works packages—comprises underground works and brownfield rail surface works, including:
- The 5.9 kilometre tunnel from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills
- Four new underground stations at Woolloongabba, Albert Street, Roma Street; and Boggo Road, including in-station retail, station access and associated systems
- A section of rail surface works to enable the southern portal construction
- A third platform at Dutton Park Station
- Asset maintenance and facilities management of the tunnel and four underground stations
A worksite has now been established at Boggo Road, the existing site at Woolloongabba is already a hive of activity, demolition at Albert Street in the heart of the CBD is well advanced and work at Roma Street is well and truly under way.
There are also rail works under way in the project’s northern and southern rail corridor.
At the Roma Street site, works are progressing, with removal of the pedestrian bridge over Roma Street, the installation of a large acoustic shed and continued demolition of the old Hotel Jen building.
Demolition works of two inner-city corner blocks are now also complete at Albert Street, with piling works for the station box underway and construction of an acoustic shed well under way.
At the Woolloongabba site, piling works are now complete with more than 300 piles having been driven into the earth to support a brand new underground station.
They will provide support for the excavation of the launch area where tunnel boring machines will commence digging the projects’s twin tunnels in early 2021.
Work is set to start shortly at the Exhibition station, at stations from Salisbury through to Fairfield, on the Gold Coast where new stations are being created at Pimpama, Helensvale North and Merrimac and at the project’s Southern tunnel portal, south of Boggo Road.
Cross River Rail worksites running in 2020
• Upgrades at Fairfield, Yeronga, Yeerongpilly, Moorooka, Rocklea, and Salisbury stations (starting in June)
• Exhibition Station, which currently only opens during the Ekka (starting in April)
• Three new Gold Coast stations – Pimpama, Helensvale North and Merrimac (starting in September)
• Work on the southern portal – from Woolloongabba to Boggo Road (starting in April)
• Boggo Road
• Woolloongabba
• Albert Street
• Roma Street
• Northern Portal (including rail corridor works)
• Shorncliffe
• Mayne Yard
Complications and controversies
Late last year, hundreds of construction workers also marched to Parliament House over the government’s handing of the rail project, particularly how contracts for the project have been awarded.
Earlier this year, CIMIC’s construction subsidiary CPB Contractors was forced by Queensland regulators to prove it had enough cash on hand to continue with its pipeline of projects, including the Cross River Rail.
The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) pointed at CIMIC’s financials which reported a $1 billion net annual loss in February.
The move by the QBCC to reveal the company’s financial viability follows its recent campaign to monitor the building industry more closely following a spate of collapses that left subcontractors heavily out of cash.
Deputy premier Jackie Trad had responsibility for the project taken off her last year after she failed to declare the purchase of a Woolloongabba house by her family’s trust.
The home was purchased along the route of Cross River Rail, a project for which she had ministerial responsibility.
The Queensland government also dismissed the 10-member independent board, headed by former Labor deputy premier Paul Lucas, overseeing the project as it moved into the construction phase.
Tourism minister Kate Jones who was put in charge of the Cross River Rail and decided to sack the 10-member board overseeing the project due to its inability to manage industrial relations disputes.
Despite the Covid-19 crisis, construction has continued under stringent social distancing restrictions and hygiene protocols, enabling a workforce of almost 1,800 workers mobilised across eight different worksites to move ahead.
The project remains on schedule with the first trains are expected to be running in 2024.