The construction of the Cross River Rail underground station at Albert Street has reached a major milestone as the first new train station in Brisbane’s CBD in more than 120 years approaches completion.
Crews have made speedy progress underground, completing the mezzanine level – where people will take the final escalators down onto the station platform – and the platform itself.
Both milestones represent significant feats of engineering:
Every single piece of the station had to be lowered into the cavern down a 31m-deep access shaft.
Escalators are due to arrive on site and preparation works are underway for tracks to be laid in the station cavern over the coming months.
While tracks are being laid, crews will also start installing platform screen doors.
Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment Cameron Dick said Cross River Rail is a critical piece of infrastructure that will redefine how people not only travel in Brisbane but also “live in this amazing city”.
“By 2036 more than 67,000 people will travel through the Albert Street Station each day, as it becomes the main pedestrian feeder point for QUT’s Gardens Point campus, the parliamentary precinct, Queen’s Wharf, the upgraded Eagle Street business district and the City Botanic Gardens,” he said.
State Development Minister Grace Grace said Cross River Rail was a transformative project, and seeing this huge piece of transport infrastructure up close gave a real sense of its magnitude and importance.
“It will make it easier to get into the city for work or study, or to enjoy shopping and dining options, including at Queen’s Wharf,” she said.
“Albert Street station will be a new centre point in the middle of the CBD – a vibrant transport hub where people will meet and gather, breathing new life into the heart of the city.
“As someone who has lived in central Brisbane all my life, I can appreciate the changes this will bring, making the city more accessible for everyone”.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Bart Mellish said with tracks, escalators and platform screen doors soon to come, what was once a massive empty cavern below ground is looking more and more like a world-class train station each day.
“The works beneath our busy CBD streets are seriously impressive, and I thank the more than 545 workers at Cross River Rail’s Albert Street sites for their tremendous efforts in bringing the first station to be built in Brisbane’s CBD in more than 120 years to life,” he said.
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