Albert Street transformed as part of Cross River Rail
The first city railway station to built in more than 120 years will provide links to mega projects like Queen’s Wharf and the Eagle Street Pier redevelopment and create jobs for thousands of Queenslanders.
QLD News
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BRISBANE’S newest railway station will open up some of the most valuable commercial property opportunities in Queensland, hook up mega developments Queen’s Wharf and Dexus riverside, and create jobs for hundreds of tradespeople and apprentices.
The Courier-Mail, in conjunction with the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority, is presenting a series looking at the project and what it will bring to the state.
Major CBD road to close next week when construction for a new Cross River Rail station begins
How SEQ’s transport systems are about to be transformed
How Cross River Rail will change our city forever
How Cross River Rail will change peak hour commutes
Albert Street will be the first CBD railway station in a century and will also help open up redevelopment opportunities in a section of the city that has had to rely on long walks to Roma Street or Central to get on a train.
City sports fans will be able to get to The Gabba in less than five minutes.
It will remove the Merivale Bridge rail bottleneck with a second river crossing, allowing more trains to run more often across the whole rail network.
It will create more than 7700 jobs during construction, including 450 apprentice and traineeships.
“We know that to kickstart Queensland’s economy and create jobs, we must invest in infrastructure,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said at the Albert Street site on Monday. “These extensive training opportunities mean that the project will leave a lasting skills development opportunity and will transform the future of train travel across the whole of southeast Queensland,” she said.
“So far, more than 2300 jobs have been generated, meaning Cross River Rail is doing a lot of heavy lifting as part of the economic recovery from COVID-19, right when our economy needs it most.”
State Development Minister Kate Jones said TAFE Queensland would introduce a new Certificate II and III qualification in rail infrastructure – a first for Queensland.
Helensvale apprentice Adam Wormald has swapped working in childcare to follow in his dad Shane’s footsteps working underground, with a plant operations apprenticeship.
“I’ve been working here for the last three months,” Mr Wormald said.
“It’s really great to be back home in Queensland … working on a project that’s definitely going to put Queensland on the map as far as becoming a world city.”
Albert Street will be the deepest underground station, with the 220m-long platforms 31m below street level.
It is expected to take 67,000 people a day. Test blasting started this month to investigate the rock to be removed.
Later this month, bores will be sunk in City Botanic Gardens to identify underground rock and soil conditions about 50m underground near the alignment of the tunnel that will cross under the river to The Gabba.
Cross River Rail is a 10.2km rail line from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills, which includes 5.9km of twin tunnels under the Brisbane River and Brisbane CBD.
Work has begun on the four new underground stations at Boggo Road, Woolloongabba, Albert Street and Roma Street.