No maps yet but commuters to get plenty of warning for new network ahead of Cross River Rail
Transport Minister Mark Bailey has warned commuters that Brisbane’s rail network will be restructured for Cross River Rail. Here’s what we know so far.
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Transport Minister Mark Bailey has warned commuters that the state’s rail network would be restructured for Cross River Rail but that it was too early to release the inaugural Brisbane underground map.
Mr Bailey said commuters would get plenty of notice about changes to the train network at the weekend launch of the smart ticketing system for the Ferny Grove line.
“It’s more than three years until we open the Cross River Rail project so there is plenty of time yet (to release maps),” he said.
“We are working very hard on the operational plan. The system will change because with a whole new rail line we will need to adjust the system and there’s no doubt about that.
“It will be released well within time and scope before we open systems.
“The operational plan will show some changes in how the rail network will be structured and we want to give people as much notice so they can adjust their travel plans as much as they can.”
Commuter advocacy group Rail Back on Track has released its map showing anticipated details of Brisbane’s new underground rail network.
The map was drawn up using high-level government documents including the Cross River Rail business case plans.
It shows it is likely that airport link trains would no longer run directly to the state’s Gold Coast tourist mecca.
Last month, Rail Back on Track published the Brisbane Citytrain Network Map for the new underground which will start operating in 2025 with testing starting in 2024.
The main tunnels are already built with a select crowd able to walk through them last week.
Rail Back on Track’s indicative map also shows the Ipswich line will become the city’s main airport link and was likely to no longer run to the Sunshine Coast.
Mr Bailey has already revealed that Beenleigh line trains would no longer stop at South Bank.
The change in train line routes was revealed as the $5.4 billion project hit a milestone with people walking through the completed tunnels last week with the start of rails being laid inside the twin tunnels under the Brisbane River.
Rail Back on Track’s Robert Dow said peak-hour commuters on the Gold Coast line catching express trains to South Bank or the airport were likely to be the worst affected.
He said Beenleigh line trains were expected to run through to Kippa Ring instead of to Ferny Grove and the airport.
The Ferny Grove line, serving Brisbane’s north, will connect to the southside’s Cleveland line, where peak-hour express services were unlikely to increase as the single-line track was already at capacity, Mr Dow said.
“People need to know these details when deciding where to buy a house or how they will get to work,” Mr Dow said.
“It’s a disgrace that the government has not given the public these crucial details and it was left to us to publish the proposed network.”
Mr Dow said Melburnians were fully informed of their new underground network routes and stations years in advance and Brisbane commuters deserved the same.
Mr Bailey said Gold Coast and Beenleigh line commuters would no longer have to walk 10 minutes from Park Rd or South Bank to get to the CBD.
He said it would take most people five minutes to walk the 370m from Boggo Rd station to Park Rd.
Government reports forecast up to 19,000 passengers will transfer from rail and bus at the Boggo Rd-Park Rd interchange in the first 10 years with the majority getting off a train to catch a bus to the University of Queensland.
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