Brisbane Metro project dead in current form

THE $1.5 billion Brisbane Metro is dead in its current form after the State Government ruled out handing over a site crucial to the project.

The Brisbane Metro was announced during the 2016 local governmente elections. Picture: Supplied

THE $1.5 billion Brisbane Metro is dead in its current form after the State Government ruled out handing over a site crucial to the project.

The former Go Print site at Woolloongabba has been identified for use in both the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail and Brisbane City Council’s rapid transit system.

The state-owned site is slated as a key urban renewal opportunity and station for Cross River Rail but the Metro, in its current form, ­requires part of the ground level for a stabling yard for its rolling stock.

But Deputy Premier and Infrastructure Minister Jackie Trad has ruled out giving the council access to the site for its project.

“I can emphatically say the Go Print site will not be used as a stabling facility for buses,” she said.

“It is too important as one of the new stations for Cross River Rail and it’s too important in terms of being a fantastic inner-city urban renewal project.

“It doesn’t make sense that we would hand it over to a low-return use.”

Ms Trad said the council still needed to prove whether the Metro was feasible without access to the Go Print site.

Brisbane Metro map.

“The business case needs to faithfully reflect the limitations of the project,” she said.

Cross River Rail includes a new rail link via a tunnel under the Brisbane River, connecting Dutton Park with Bowen Hills, while the Metro would use sections of the Northern Busway to provide a high-frequency service ­between Herston and Woolloongabba, using rubber-tyred train carriages.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the council would continue to proceed with the project and other sites for a stabling yard would be investigated.

“We are looking at a number of potential sites for a depot as part of the business case, including the Go Print site at Woolloongabba, which is our preferred site but by no means the only option,” Cr Quirk said.

He said he believed the site could accommodate both transport projects and still provide “a financial windfall” for the State Government by approving high-rise developments of heights of up to 40 storeys.

“If they attempt to block our plans for the Brisbane Metro, the people of Brisbane will be the big losers and end up with nothing except public transport and road gridlock,” he said.

The Go Print site has been identified as a key parcel of land for the Cross River Rail project since 2010. The Metro was announced during the 2016 local government ­elections.

The council has committed $20 million to completing a business case, which is expected to be finished in May, and will examine other suitable options for a depot.