The State Government’s preferred design of Brisbane Metro will cost millions more

A State Government demand to move a proposed Brisbane Metro station from one location to another could see taxpayers hit with an extra $390 million to fund the project.

TAXPAYERS could be forced to fork out an extra $390 million to fund the State Government’s preferred design of Brisbane Metro, in an extraordinary financial blow to the council’s signature transport project.

The staggering figures have been uncovered in a City Hall analysis of State Government demands to shift the proposed Metro station from the Cultural Centre precinct to under the Convention Centre.

The Sunday Mail can reveal that under two options explored by the council, they claim that the cost of constructing the station under the Convention Centre would increase by between $100 million to $390 million.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the move would not only potentially add hundreds of millions of dollars in costs to the project, but also worsen travel times and put the station at risk of flooding.

A move of a Brisbane Metro station will increase costs by $390 million.

“(The) investigation has showed that none of the alternative options are viable,” he said. “It’s clear we need to revert to the original (Cultural Centre) design immediately, and we need the State to issue the approvals so we can get the project moving straight away.”

Under one option, which would see the Metro loop under the Convention Centre, the cost of constructing the station would more than double to about $700 million.

The council claims Metro travel times from Buranda to the city would also be pushed out by 13 per cent, and bus travel times to West End would increase by up to 19 per cent.

Another option would allow it to be built for about $100 million more than initially budgeted, with a new tunnel that would run under Grey St, as well as a 12 per cent increase in travel times for West End bus services.

Both designs though would require 2.5 metre high mechanical flood gates to address the additional significant flood risks that the council says was identified in their assessment.

The team heading Metro briefed Government officials about their findings on Tuesday, with the Lord Mayor yesterday calling for the station to be returned to the Cultural Centre. “Every day of delay is an additional cost to Brisbane ratepayers,” he said.

“The State Government has not offered a single dollar for the Metro project, yet their interference could add hundreds of millions.”

Transport Minister Mark Bailey and Cr Schrinner publicly clashed over the project earlier this year, after the State Government claimed they had warned the council as far back as August last year that there were “unresolved issues” with its planned Culture Centre station.