Work locked in as manufacturer takes on Cross River Rail

Up to 70 local workers will benefit from a major infrastructure project for the Cross River Rail system at a facility near Ipswich.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and State Development Minister Kate Jones visiting Wagners concrete plant at Wacol. Pic Peter Wallis

A WACOL manufacturing company has begun work to produce 25,000 concrete segments for the tunnels of southeast Queensland's new underground rail system.

Up to 70 local workers at Wagners Precast facility will build the concrete walls that will line the 5.9 kilometres of twin tunnels for the Cross River Rail Project.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk visited the site on Monday.

"Investing in major infrastructure projects like Cross River Rail means more jobs, more training opportunities and more support for the economy right when we need it most."

"7,500 jobs for workers will be created throughout the life of the project along with 450 opportunities for trainees and apprentices - some of whom we met today.

 

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk talks with Dennis Wagner. . Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and State Development Minister Kate Jones visiting Wagners concrete plant at Wacol. Pic Peter Wallis

"We've been clear and consistent - we want to see Queensland companies and Queensland workers benefiting from the biggest infrastructure project this state has ever seen.

"Wagners' work with Cross River Rail is a great example of what we can achieve by prioritising local companies and local employees."

Wagners CEO Cameron Coleman said the company was looking for an opportunity to contribute to this transformational project and is pleased that work is now underway on the massive task to produce the required 25,000 concrete segments.

"This means more job security for existing staff and new job opportunities for the extra staff we will take on now that work has started"

"Covid obviously has everyone worried, so the start of work couldn't come soon enough and its fantastic that the Government has been able to keep going with construction of Cross River Rail"

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk meeting some of the trainees and apprentices from Wagners. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and State Development Minister Kate Jones visiting Wagners concrete plant at Wacol. Pic Peter Wallis

State Development Minister Kate Jones said the magnitude of the Wacol facility was staggering, with more than 70,000 cubic metres of land as well as a storage capacity of 28,000 cubic metres.

"If you lay the 25,000 segments they'll produce for Cross River Rail end-to-end you'd reach from Wacol to the heart of Brisbane City with a few segments to spare," she said.

In addition to creating more jobs, the work at Wagners is also supporting apprentice and trainee opportunities with more than 570 training hours delivered at the facility in May alone.

"While visiting the facility today, we had the pleasure of meeting Ewan Daniels and Rhys Carr, electrical apprentices and Emma Saunders, trainee who are getting a great start on their career working on the biggest project in town."

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