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

  • Roads revolution adds 900 miles of extra capacity
    August 27, 2014
    Road users in the UK will see around 900 extra lane miles of road capacity added to England’s strategic highway network by 2021, a third more than was provided in the previous decade. The boost is thanks to a huge US£39.7 billion investment, the biggest since the 1970s, which will see annual funding for enhancements to motorways and major A roads triple over the next six years. Investment includes more than US$15 billion on maintenance, US$10 billion of which will be spent on resurfacing 3,000 miles of t
  • Future of US cooperative infrastructure networks
    July 31, 2012
    Peter H. Appel, the new Administrator of the USDOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, on his vision of the US's future cooperative infrastructure networks. Peter H. Appel comes to the post of Administrator of the US Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) from a background in transportation-related work which stretches back over 20 years. Most recently with management consultancy A. T. Kearney, Inc., where he focused on busin
  • Better websites build smarter transport participation
    March 17, 2017
    Transport initiatives are gaining traction through well-designed websites. Four European smart transport-oriented websites have gained honours in the 2016 .eu Web Awards, an online competition inaugurated in 2014 to recognise the most impressive sites within the .eu internet domain in terms of their design and content. The four were among 15 finalists across all five categories of the scheme, giving the transport sector a high profile for its proactive use of sites as communications tools for driving major
  • ITS America applauds latest TIGER grants
    October 30, 2015
    US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced US$500 million in TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) 2015 grants for 39 transportation projects in 34 states, some projects spanning several states. In selecting projects, Foxx prioritised the extent to which the proposed project strengthens access to opportunities through transportation improvements.