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Milestone Brisbane underground rail test cancelled amid union tensions
By Tony Moore
The milestone first test of a train travelling 27 metres under Brisbane as part of Queensland’s biggest infrastructure project has been cancelled amid industrial action.
CPB, the major contractor on Brisbane’s $6.3 billion Cross River Rail project, planned this weekend to test a train on the underground rail line.
The train was due to enter the northern portal, near the RNA Exhibition Grounds, and travel to the underground Roma Street station platform.
The first train to run under the new Roma Street Station has been delayed ‘due to recent interruptions to work flow.’Credit: Tony Moore
It would have been the first “live test” of a train entering the underground section of the Cross River Rail section on the SEQ Rail network.
“Plans to test a train this weekend in one of Cross River Rail’s twin tunnels will be rescheduled to a later date, given recent interruptions to work schedules,” a Cross River Rail Delivery Authority spokesman said.
Brisbane Times understands the delay will also have a flow-on effect to trials of the automatic train control system.
Transport Minister Bart Mellish said he wanted the project put back on track.
“It is my expectation that the contractor and relevant unions resolve this dispute as quickly as possible,” Mellish said.
“I will be asking the Delivery Authority to work with the contractor to mitigate any impacts to the overall schedule.”
The Federal Court was told last week that ongoing industrial action by the CFMEU threatened to delay the first underground train tests.
The Roma Street CFMEU picket line on Wednesday. The first train to go underground in Brisbane has been delayed because of ‘interruptions to work schedules’, Cross River Rail’s lead contractor CPB says.Credit: Tony Moore
The court last week imposed fresh restrictions on CFMEU representatives who were allegedly intimidating non-union workers entering worksites.
While picket lines were shifted back from entrances, the CFMEU still has an ongoing presence on worksites.
A CFMEU spokesman said the delays were not the union’s fault, contrary to what CPB’s lawyers claimed in court.
“Cross River Rail workers have taken protected industrial action for one week,” the spokesman said.
“CPB is years behind schedule. It is typical of CPB to try to blame workers to cover for its own incompetence.”
Delivery Authority chief executive Graeme Newton had told this masthead the second half of 2024 included progressive testing of the rail line and systems.
“Then the final thing – the ultimate test – is putting a train in very slowly to make sure that everything goes all right,” Newton said.
Train control contractor Hitachi Rail has already run 1100 Shorncliffe Line track and lab tests on the new European Train Control System, which will guide trains on the new network.
The project was delayed until “first quarter of 2026”, and a cost blowout of $960 million confirmed after supply chain problems were confirmed by previous minister Mark Bailey a year ago.