Track closures announced to move Cross River Rail project forward

Credit: Cross River Rail

Cross River Rail Delivery Authority CEO, Graeme Newton, has announced that – taking place between Friday 7 April to Thursday 27 April 2023 – there will be a number of rail track closures to ensure that critical Cross River Rail project works can be completed safely and efficiently.

Cross River Rail is a new 10.2km rail line in South East Queensland from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills, which includes 5.9km of twin tunnels under the Brisbane River and the CBD. South East Queensland’s population is rising, putting the region’s transport network under pressure. The current rail network is already nearing capacity and is constrained by a single river crossing and just four inner-city stations, causing the bottleneck that limits ability to run more trains.

More trains, more often

The Cross River Rail project will unlock this bottleneck by delivering a second river crossing, allowing more trains to run more often and integrating with new roads and new bus services to enable a turn-up-and-go public transport system across the whole of South East Queensland. This transformational project will improve the region’s quality of life, help the economy to grow, generate thousands of jobs and activate urban development, across the whole of South East Queensland.

It is anticipated that all lines will be impacted at various points, but mainly services on the Gold Coast, Airport, Beenleigh and Ferny Grove lines.

“Cross River Rail will transform the way we travel to, from and through South East Queensland in the future, but that means there will be some impacts to travel and transport services during construction,” Graeme said. “These track closures will allow crews to complete major works safely and efficiently, and although we plan them during quieter times on the network, we appreciate some people will be inconvenienced.

Important track work

Graeme said during the closures, crews would install large sections of the new Boggo Road pedestrian and cycle bridge, undertake works on new tracks north and south of Cross River Rail’s tunnels, and continue rebuilding Dutton Park, Fairfield and Rocklea stations.

“Over April 2023, we’ll see the Boggo Road pedestrian and cycle bridge – which will link the new underground station with the Princess Alexandra Hospital and South East Busway – start coming to life. Crews will be undertaking important track works north and south of the tunnels, including installing turnouts at Dutton Park station, which are used to guide trains between tracks at rail intersections. Critical station rebuild works will also take place at Dutton Park, Fairfield and Rocklea stations, while on the Shorncliffe line, we’ll be testing trains fitted out with our new world-class signalling system.”

Head of Translink, Sally Stannard, said “We’ve worked closely with Queensland Rail and the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority to make sure people can still get where they need to go. We’ve also scheduled additional services on ANZAC Day to help customers get to the dawn service and parade.”

Information about the planned works can be found on the Cross River Rail website.