A new white paper has called for a fundamental shift in how Queensland’s rail infrastructure projects are procured, delivered and operated – and warned infrastructure for the Olympic Games must be designed and delivered with the next half-century in mind.

The Bentley Systems white paper, Digital delivery in Queensland’s rail infrastructure, came out of an Engineers Australia industry roundtable held in Brisbane in August and urged digital innovation, procurement reform and industry-wide upskilling to drive long-term value, resilience and operational excellence.

It noted the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games would be a “powerful catalyst” for accelerating change in rail infrastructure across Queensland.

Central to that would be significant investment in digital infrastructure, with a mind to future advances in artificial intelligence.

What that would mean for commuters, Bentley Systems market development manager Paul King said, would be reduced congestion, improved timetables and even better station design.

“It’s about better user experience, providing better value for taxpayers in infrastructure, in transportation – and how do you set these projects up right from the start?” he said.

“That includes in the early planning – before you start digging things or pouring concrete – making sure you’ve got everything lined up properly, so that when this is all finished in seven or eight years’ time, is it actually getting people from A to B quicker?

“And have you got good certainty ... you can run that rail system as efficiently and cost effectively as possible for the next 50, 60, 100 years? That’s what we’re trying to get to.”

King said AI would become increasingly vital to the efficient running of transport services.

“I’d imagine that’s just going to get more sophisticated and more pervasive with things like timetabling and optimising when trains run, and their frequencies,” he said.

Victoria’s “Big Build” and major transport projects in NSW and Western Australia meant each state was trying to outbid the others to attract workers, King said, which gave another avenue for AI adoption.

“AI potentially has a big part to play in the project delivery at a technical level – enabling engineers to do a lot more with a lot less,” he said.

“So you’ve got one engineer maybe ending up doing the work of two or three in the next two, three or four years, which effectively negates the shortfall because technology is able to automate and think and do some of the smart stuff under the control of smart engineers.”

The paper, which was prepared with input from Department of Transport and Main Roads staff, also recommended more standardisation and modular construction to reduce risk and lower costs.

It was an approach already adopted during construction of Cross River Rail in Brisbane, the paper notes.

“This flagship rail initiative has embedded standardisation across station architecture, systems integration and construction sequencing,” the paper says.

“Modular station entrances, consistent platform layouts and repeatable tunnel components have accelerated delivery and improved sustainability.

“By integrating standardised elements into procurement, design assurance, and risk management, Cross River Rail has also enhanced digital enablement and lifecycle performance.”

Queensland Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said the government was “working closely with industry to build the legacy infrastructure required to welcome the world to Queensland in 2032 and support the needs of our growing state”.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.