Brisbane Metro cost could blow out by $100m

Ratepayers could be slugged for millions in order to deliver the Brisbane Metro, with costs expected to balloon further after the state government laid down new conditions for the project days before entering caretaker mode. SEE THE CHANGES

Ratepayers could be slugged for millions in order to deliver the Brisbane Metro, with costs expected to balloon further after the State Government laid down new conditions for the project days before entering caretaker mode.

The Courier-Mail can reveal the State Government has given its approval to the Metro project provided “key conditions” were met – including certain platforms being redesigned and the wages of government staff working on the project reimbursed.

Sources told The Courier-Mail the bill for those expansions would fall on council and could amount to upwards of $100 million, with the exact figure yet to be determined.

State-of-the-art vehicles that will service the Brisbane Metro, which could cost a further $100 million due to late changes.

The new conditions include expanded platforms at the Buranda station, the addition of a bus layover at Griffith University station as well as improved customer information facilities at King George Square and the Cultural Centre stations.

Other conditions included Go Between Bridge toll relief for South Brisbane residents after the Victoria Bridge is closed to vehicles next year and the creation of a new community park in South Brisbane.

“A further condition imposed by the State Government was that Council reimburse the wages of Transport and Mains Roads employees working with Metro,” Brisbane City Council Public and Active Transport Chair Ryan Murphy said.

It follows some 17 months of delays due to the State Government’s demands for the redesign of the Cultural Centre station in June last year.

Council data obtained by The Courier-Mail shows the cost of those delays to be an estimated $64 million.

“This estimate factors in the State ordered redesign of the Cultural Centre Station, as well as changes to EBA labour rates and State waste levy impacts,” Mr Murphy said.

“After 500 meetings, Labor finally signed off on Brisbane’s Metro approval, just days out from entering caretaker mode ahead of their election campaign.”

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said the conditions were crucial to making the project “right” and involved reinstating elements that had been altered by Council.

“Without the changes the Metro would have actually slowed down buses on the busway,” he said.

“These elements were cut out of the Metro plans by Brisbane City Council in 2020 when they proposed to delay undergrounding of the Cultural Centre Station.”

Mr Murphy said council would continue negotiations “to ensure the best outcome for ratepayers”.

“We can never get back the year of delay, the 500 meetings or the $64 million, but thankfully we can now get on this critical, much-needed project,” he said.

The Metro project – which ballooned by $300 million to an expected cost of $1.24 billion in the year’s Council budget – is slated to improve public transport outcomes for the city and create more than 2500 jobs.