Campaign to have Cross River Rail station named ‘Meanjin’ gathers steam

Brisbane’s leading public transport advocate is spearheading a push to have Brisbane CBD’s new Cross River Rail station named Meanjin, in honour of the First Nations’ name for the land on which the city was built.

Robert Dow, of public transport advocacy group Rail Back on Track, said he started the e-petition after the NSW state government announced Sydney’s new Pitt Street metro station would be named for that city’s traditional name, Gadigal.

The under-construction Albert Street Station, which will be operational once Cross River Rail is completed.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the petition, published on the Queensland government website, had attracted almost 500 signatures.

“Sydney is really stamping itself as a place to be. Naming [the new metro station] Gadigal has been accepted by the community – everyone talks about Gadigal Station down there now,” Dow said.

“The same thing would happen with Meanjin. It just gives some recognition on the system to the original inhabitants, and it’s a much more appropriate name than Albert Street – in every sense.

“It’s a correct geographical location, in fact.”

Dow said it was not a good strategy to name stations after streets, and Citytrain station names, such as Thomas Street in Ipswich, should also be revisited.

“There’s actually a bit of a history in Brisbane of renaming stations that are based on streets, which don’t really specify a location, into something a little bit more meaningful,” he said, citing Brunswick Street’s renaming to Fortitude Valley, and Vulture Street to South Bank.

“Meanjin is much more meaningful than Albert Street, which runs all the way from Roma Street to the botanical gardens.”

Dow said he hoped the petition would force Transport Minister Mark Bailey’s hand, as he would be required to respond once it was tabled in parliament.

Bailey said station names would be reviewed.

“I welcome Mr Dow’s enthusiasm for the Cross River Rail project,” he said.

“Work to review station names will be undertaken in consultation with the Department of Transport and Main Roads, and Queensland Rail.”

Comment was sought from the LNP state opposition.

The e-petition will close on February 4 and be tabled shortly after that.

“Translink and the Queensland government are pretty risk-averse at times when it comes to public transport,” Dow said.

The introduction of Cross River Rail to the Citytrain network should lead to more stations being renamed, he said.

Central, which would no longer be the most central station, could be renamed Anzac Square, while Dow suggested Roma Street – at the centre of Brisbane’s train and bus networks – could be renamed Brisbane Interchange Station.

Former Labor transport minister and deputy premier Paul Lucas wanted to bestow the name the Meanjin Line on the proposed Brisbane Subway – an underground link running between Toowong, West End, the CBD and Bowen Hills/Newstead, with future extensions to Bulimba, Hamilton Northshore and the Brisbane Airport.

Following the death of the Queen last year, the LNP opposition launched a petition to name the new Cross River Rail line the Elizabeth Line, in a tribute.

That petition was not conducted through the Queensland government, leading to accusations of data-harvesting. The petition is yet to be tabled in parliament.