Skip to main content

Brisbane to build combined road/rail tunnel

Australia’s Queensland Government has revealed concept designs for what would be the world’s first double-deck bus and rail tunnel to replace the planned Cross River Rail project. The 15 metres wide, the US$4.6 billion underground bus and train (UBAT) tunnel would be capable of accommodating a double-track railway and two bus lanes with three underground combined bus-and-rail stations. In a statement outlining the UBAT programme, Premier Campbell Newman said: “The project we are announcing today deliver
November 22, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Australia’s Queensland Government has revealed concept designs for what would be the world’s first double-deck bus and rail tunnel to replace the planned Cross River Rail project.

The 15 metres wide, the US$4.6 billion underground bus and train (UBAT) tunnel would be capable of accommodating a double-track railway and two bus lanes with three underground combined bus-and-rail stations.

In a statement outlining the UBAT programme, Premier Campbell Newman said: “The project we are announcing today delivers the public transport services needed for the next 50 years.”

Deputy Premier and State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Minister Jeff Seeney said: “This exciting, world-class public transport project demonstrated that the Newman Government is fulfilling its election promise to deliver better infrastructure.

“Queenslanders will have access to one of the most innovative public transport connections in the world through the underground bus and train project. The government is also progressing other transport priorities, including the Bruce Highway and the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing.”

Queensland Government has said that work could begin as early as 2015, with construction planned for completion 2020.

Related Content

  • Underground DART plan back on track
    May 7, 2014
    Irish Rail is set to proceed with the US$2.8 billion underground second DART rail line through the heart of Dublin city centre, following a recent High Court decision which gave the green light for the project. The line, which would run from Docklands to Inchicore, would complete the trebling of the Greater Dublin area's rail service capacity from 33 million passenger journeys annually now to 100 million passenger journeys upon completion.
  • EU releases first transport infrastructure funds
    April 8, 2014
    Following its decision in March to make the first US$16.4 billion tranche of funding available for trans-European transport network projects, the European commission has now adopted the first work programmes within this framework: a multi-annual work programme covering larger projects with a total budget of US$15.1 billion and an annual work programme for 2014 addressing smaller projects with a budget of US1.3 billion. The funding priorities set out in these programmes include: The closing of missing lin
  • World Bank funds Yemen highway project
    June 6, 2014
    The World Bank has announced a US$133.54 million grant to support the Government of Yemen’s ambitious plan to connect the northern and southern parts of the country with a 710 kilometre highway. The largest ever infrastructure project in Yemen’s history will play a vital role in the country’s transition by targeting the root causes of instability, such as lack of access to economic opportunities and poor national integration, and rebuilding the country’s social and economic base. “This is more than just
  • Australia’s largest intelligent vehicle trial to be held in Queensland
    November 25, 2016
    Queensland is preparing for driverless and connected vehicles with ambitious plans underway for a four-year on-road testing trial in Australia as part of the Cooperative and Automated Vehicle Initiative (CAVI) to ensure the State is ready for the future. The government has chosen the urban area of Ipswich as the site of the large-scale test-bed to trial vehicles and infrastructure that can talk to one another as well as to test cooperative and highly-automated vehicles. Around 500 motorists will be recru