The QLD Government has announced an in-principle commitment of $800m to kick-start the Cross River Rail in Brisbane.
The move comes as Building Queensland's June Infrastructure Priority Pipeline Report declared the project Ready for Government Investment Consideration. This builds on the State Government's existing commitments to the project, including a commitment of $50m in the 2016-17 State Budget to establish the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority and $634m funding to deliver the European Train Control System.
The business case will also be put to the Federal Government and Infrastructure Australia in a bid to secure Federal funding. Delivery of the $5.4b project will require support from all levels of government as well as investment from the private sector.
Cross River Rail Proposed Alignment as at April 2016. Source: QLD Govt
The Cross River Rail will support more than 1,540 jobs each year during construction, and with construction expected to take 5 years Queenslanders can expect a slew of job opportunities.
Once operational, the project will continue to generate and support about 570 jobs each year, not to mention the 65,000 jobs within new Cross River Rail station precincts.
Building Queensland predicts that the new line will boost public transport use acrossacross the region by 29,000 trips per day in 2036, taking 18,500 cars off the road per day and relieving road congestion that would otherwise cost the economy $240m annually.
Check out the Cross River Rail Stage 2 video for more info.
Stay tuned for more updates on QLD's number one infrastructure project.
Source: QLD Govt