Cross River Rail Project

[#Metro]

Beenleigh to Gold Coast is another box of frogs dealing with around 45km of overlapping all-stations and express patterns and with only 3 tracks north of Kuraby.  CRR is neither necessary nor sufficient to address 15 minute all day services here.

So, it is shaping up to be $5.4 billion dollars and 30 min off peak services to Gold Coast huh? 

No wonder a diagram of the off-peak train service patterns didn't appear in the change report.

Should consider an M1 Gold Coast line alignment vs the costs of further duplication of the Beenleigh line.

[tazzer9]

Ever wondered why infrastructure projects cost so much money here.   Considering the original CRR was around the $5.5 billion mark, If it was proposed now, what would the cost be touted at.   $10 billion?

[SurfRail]

It really isn't that significant an issue for present purposes.  CRR is needed for peak capacity and greater network resilience, but it doesn't follow that it will magically fix everything.

There is a limit to what you can reasonably scope out at a time, especially since they have (voluntarily or otherwise) no dosh to build even this with.

In the longer run my preference would be the staged regional approach Gazza outlaid a while ago, which can be built incrementally.  Start with CRR, then:

- Northern end - build Trouts Rd to allow Sunshine Coast and Caboolture trains to get to the CBD more quickly, leaving Petrie/Kippa-Ring slow and fast to feed into Ipswich and Springfield
- Southern end - start with line to Garden City, extend to Kuraby, then extend from Garden City/8MP to Beenleigh/Yatala

CRR is still key to that.  Without it the outer limbs would be useless and you would need to spend the money on the existing legacy routes.

[#Metro]

Ever wondered why infrastructure projects cost so much money here.   Considering the original CRR was around the $5.5 billion mark, If it was proposed now, what would the cost be touted at.   $10 billion?

I suspect it is undercosted. Projects of similar scale in Melbourne or Sydney are more around the $10 bn mark.

They have likely left out lots of other things that could go around the tunnel.

Anyway, this is all rather moot as anything could happen after the election and the project scrapped by an incoming new administration

(or by PHON vetoing it in Parliament as another SEQ centric project that doesn't help The Bush).

[techblitz]

^ spot on @metro

fairly high probability PHON would veto CRR.....considering palazcuiks/greens fairly staunch stance towards her
LNP however is another story.....theres a minute chance that she could back LNP cross river proposals.....she is fairly chummy with the libs at the moment....federally you only have to look at how close her and Michaela Cash are.......they are getting things done in the senate down there....

If the one nation W.A infrastructure policies on the website are anything to go by.....one nation will be heavily focused on decentralising Brisbane.......not trying to attract more into it.....and not half arsed decentralisation like springfield,north lakes which hasn't fixed our roads in the slightest.....but proper decentralisation like developing the sunshine coast,gympie,bundaberg,toowoomba etc...

[paulg]

Just catching up now on the revised Reference Design. Thanks Brizcommuter for the extra analysis.
Generally looks good to me, I really hope that the LNP can be persuaded to get behind this new design so it doesn´t have to go back to the drawing board yet again if the government changes at the election. Also need to get the federal government to stop playing politics and stump up some cash, asap!
Big plusses (relative to BaT) are the Boggo Road interchange station and the connectivity to the northern lines with the new design through the Mayne yards.
Minuses include no evidence of stubs for tunnel extensions north and south (as far as I can see) - capacity from Yeerongpilly to Dutton Park is constrained and will need further tunnelling at some point? Also would be nice to see stubs north of Roma St for the NW Transport Corridor.
It´s not clear to me how the three tracks south of Dutton Park can handle the PM peak when it appears to me that all Kuraby/Beenleigh/CRR trains are fed into the Up suburban line (Platform 1 at stations). How do CRR/GC/Beenleigh trains pass SouthBank/Kuraby trains?
Cheers, Paul

[SurfRail]

Under BaT they were going to add third platforms at each station to Salisbury, so the middle track could be used bidirectionally.  Not clear how it will work now if anywhere south of Dutton Park is out of scope.

[BrizCommuter]

Just catching up now on the revised Reference Design. Thanks Brizcommuter for the extra analysis.
Generally looks good to me, I really hope that the LNP can be persuaded to get behind this new design so it doesn´t have to go back to the drawing board yet again if the government changes at the election. Also need to get the federal government to stop playing politics and stump up some cash, asap!
Big plusses (relative to BaT) are the Boggo Road interchange station and the connectivity to the northern lines with the new design through the Mayne yards.
Minuses include no evidence of stubs for tunnel extensions north and south (as far as I can see) - capacity from Yeerongpilly to Dutton Park is constrained and will need further tunnelling at some point? Also would be nice to see stubs north of Roma St for the NW Transport Corridor.
It´s not clear to me how the three tracks south of Dutton Park can handle the PM peak when it appears to me that all Kuraby/Beenleigh/CRR trains are fed into the Up suburban line (Platform 1 at stations). How do CRR/GC/Beenleigh trains pass SouthBank/Kuraby trains?
Cheers, Paul

There appear to be stubs near the Victoria Park portal.

[paulg]

There appear to be stubs near the Victoria Park portal.

Can't see any, myself? Which drawing sheet?

[paulg]

Under BaT they were going to add third platforms at each station to Salisbury, so the middle track could be used bidirectionally.  Not clear how it will work now if anywhere south of Dutton Park is out of scope.

The platform modifications were going to be done under a separate program from BaT, and I imagine the same modifications will be needed for this version of CRR. Using the middle track bidirectionally for peak expresses makes sense, but the planned track layout shown doesn't seem to allow that at the moment (unless the plan is to use the existing crossover from suburban Up track to middle track to the south of Dutton Park station)

[Gazza]

Yes, i cant work out where the northern stubs are supposed to be.
I guess you could cut in through the cut and cover section right before the portal...but stubs there are in completely the wrong place.

They need to be under hardgrave park on countess st ideally.

[BrizCommuter]

Here is a screen shot of what I would assume would be the stubs, near Centenary Pool.

Odd location (I would place them near Countess St), but the same location as they were for the previous iteration of CRR.

[paulg]

Here is a screen shot of what I would assume would be the stubs, near Centenary Pool.

Odd location (I would place them near Countess St), but the same location as they were for the previous iteration of CRR.

Check the figure caption, I think you'll find that was from the former Reference Design (included in the change report for comparison purposes). None of the new design figures indicate any stubs anywhere.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[newbris]

Here is a screen shot of what I would assume would be the stubs, near Centenary Pool.
<snip>
Odd location (I would place them near Countess St), but the same location as they were for the previous iteration of CRR.

Check the figure caption, I think you'll find that was from the former Reference Design (included in the change report for comparison purposes). None of the new design figures indicate any stubs anywhere.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

As someone who knows nothing about this, I'll chuck this thought in...given we are already at the surface by this point (the tunnel now finishes well to the west of the land bridge) they wouldn't need stubs would they to (at a minimum) replicate the above BAT design ? Assume they can bring a tunnel up and join the surface tracks later ?

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Senior bureaucrat puts Cross River Rail delay at feet of Newman government

The political buck-passing over Brisbane's long-delayed Cross River Rail project has continued after a top Commonwealth bureaucrat laid blame at the feet of the Newman government at a Senate hearing in Canberra on Monday.

It prompted a rebuke from Queensland's Liberal National Party opposition that said, through a spokesman, the project it scrapped in office had "stalled" under Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's leadership.

But Ms Palaszczuk's deputy said the state government planned to have shovels in the ground before the year was out.

Cross River Rail was first announced by then-transport minister Paul Lucas almost a decade ago and has been, in its various incarnations, in planning stages ever since.

On Monday, Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development secretary Mike Mrdak came under questioning by Labor Senator Murray Watt during a meeting of the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee.

Senator Watt was was a member of the Bligh state government between 2009 and 2012 when he served as the Member for Everton in Brisbane's north.

"I'm right, aren't I, that if the federal government hadn't withdrawn funding that previously existed for public transport infrastructure, Cross River Rail would be well underway by now, rather than still arguing about planning money?" Senator Watt asked Mr Mrdak.

In response, Mr Mrdak said that was not the case when it came to Cross River Rail.

"It's also important to remember that the Newman government cancelled the project and substituted it with a different project," he said, referring to the Newman government's planned Bus and Train Tunnel.

"So, irrespective of the Commonwealth's position leading into the 2013 (federal) election – the government's perspective – the reality is that the Newman government substantially changed the scope.

"The Palaszczuk government has reinstituted a design that is much more similar to the pre-2013 commitment that was made by the former federal (Labor) government.

"So it's not quite accurate, given the changes in scope and project in Queensland, to argue the project has been delayed by Commonwealth funding constraints."

Last year, federal Labor infrastructure spokesman Anthony Albanese revealed a funding agreement between the Gillard and Newman governments had been reached prior to the 2013 federal election when he was infrastructure minister.

But the plans, which Mr Albanese said were so advanced a joint media release had been drafted, were scrapped for what he said was the "ideological objection that (then-federal opposition leader) Tony Abbott had to public transport".

The LNP spokesman stood firm on the Newman government's decision to scrap the original Cross River Rail project in favour of the so-called BaT Tunnel.

The spokesman said the Bligh Labor government's plan was "an $8 billion unfunded and unaffordable" project.

"The funding offered by federal Labor in 2013 would have seen Queensland's share of GST reduced, meaning Queensland would have been worse off," he said.

"This stingy funding offer was less favourable than terms offered by federal Labor to New South Wales and Victoria. It was a bad deal for Queensland."

The spokesman said the Newman government reviewed Cross River Rail before deciding on its preferred BaT Tunnel public transport solution.

He said the Cross River Rail project had been "hopelessly stalled" under the Palaszczuk government.

"Annastacia Palaszczuk said Cross River Rail was shovel-ready in 2013, yet after two years as Premier the project hasn't progressed, isn't funded and doesn't even have the necessary state government approvals," he said.

As Mr Mrdak made clear in the Senate hearing, the scope of the Cross River Rail had changed since 2013.

Deputy Premier and Infrastructure Minister Jackie Trad said it was a "major failure by the Newman-Nicholls government" that Cross River Rail was not more advanced.

"They didn't govern in the interests of Queenslanders, they only cared about themselves," she said.

"All levels of government agree Cross River Rail must happen and the fact is it would have been well under way if it wasn't for the LNP's petty political games, spearheaded by (then-premier Campbell) Newman, (Opposition Leader Tim) Nicholls and (then-transport minister Scott) Emerson.

"They tore up the 50-50 funding deal for Cross River Rail in 2013 in a bid to get in bed with then-opposition leader Tony Abbott.

"Things are different now. Under Annastacia Palaszczuk's leadership, we've been focused on getting this project back on track and we are determined to get shovels in the ground this year."

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Cross River Rail to bring extension of pedestrian malls in Brisbane CBD

PART of Albert St in Brisbane City would become a pedestrian mall under the latest Cross River Rail incarnation.

The project's newest environmental impact statement suggests construction of the project would be a perfect time to close off more of the CBD to traffic in what would amount to an extension of the Queen St and ­Albert St shopping malls.

Moving the planned Albert St station one block northwest created a future opportunity for a "priority pedestrian environment" on Albert St between Elizabeth St and Charlotte St and Charlotte St and Mary St, the document said.

The change would still allow cars to drive along Charlotte St.

Traffic modelling had been done on permanently closing the sections and impacts on nearby intersections were predicted to be minor.

However, the George and Elizabeth streets intersection was forecast to see heavy traffic queuing at both morning and afternoon peak periods and would require a middle lane to be changed into a turning lane.

The State Government has asked the Co-ordinator-General to vary conditions imposed under a previous environmental impact statement based on its 2011 design under the Bligh government so that the design may be built, despite it still awaiting federal funding.

The document, which is up for community consultation, also lays out the number of homes that will need to be ­resumed for tunnelling.

It has revised the total number down to 224 from 422 under Labor's 2011 model.

Infrastructure Minister Jackie Trad has encouraged commuters to give their feedback on the design of the much-awaited rail extension between Dutton Park and Bowen Hills.

But Opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Deb Frecklington questioned why environmental approvals were still being sought so long after the finalisation of the business case in June last year.

"The Premier (Annastacia Palaszczuk) and Deputy Premier (Ms Trad) keep parroting that Cross River Rail is shovel-ready," she said.

"The truth is that it remains unfunded and obstacle-ridden with no strategy to deliver it."

[ozbob]

Errrr ....

Australia&#38;#38;#38;#38;#38;#39;s 100 most important infrastructure projects https://t.co/qUjgvx5dUS

— Alan Davies (@MelbUrbanist) February 24, 2017

Cross River Rail is not in the race - still languishing at ' High Priority Initiatives ' behind ' High Priority Projects '  and  ' Priority Projects '  ...  hey ho ..

Victoria has Melbourne Metro Rail up there as a high priority project.  Just shows how bad the CRR ball has been dropped.



http://infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/policy-publications/publications/Infrastructure-Priority-List.aspx

The Infrastructure Priority List, Project and Initiative Summaries

>> http://infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/policy-publications/publications/files/Australian-Infrastructure-Plan-2017.pdf

^

Couriermail --> Opinion: Voters the biggest roadblock to infrastructure funding

YESTERDAY'S update of Infrastructure Australia's priority list sees the welcome addition of the Brisbane-to-Gold Coast transport corridor upgrades as a "priority initiative" addressing the damaging cost of congestion.

But keeping Cross River Rail in the "initiative" rather than "project" group won't commit the Commonwealth to an investment approval, and seems in conflict with the tremendous benefits this project will bring to the whole southeast Queensland region.

While refinement of project business cases is one thing, the real challenge is how to fund our increasing demand for major roads, rail, water and productivity-enhancing infrastructure.

A soon-to-be-released report by BIS Shrapnel indicates Queensland is staring at a $1 billion hole in being able to fund critical public infrastructure within three years.

The state's total debt also continues to surge towards $80 billion by the end of the decade.

We now have an acute infrastructure funding challenge emerging in Queensland, placing us at grave risk of a return to eras past that saw unacceptable and ever-increasing backlogs in major infrastructure delivery.

The need for reforms remains central to generating greater revenue to invest back into infrastructure.

Unfortunately, it's a complex and vote-sensitive subject that governments and political parties shy away from.

And, if the policymakers are to be believed, dear reader, the problem is – in a word – you.

Apparently, you're not ready to be re-engaged on asset leasing, the virtuous recycling of capital back into job-generating new infrastructure.

Nor are you ready to be swayed from the popular myth that more debt to fund productivity-enhancing infrastructure is anathema.

You're probably not ready to engage on payment of a modest levy to support a game-changing local project.

And you're definitely not even close to accepting a new, more effective way to charge road users based on actual use rather than the failing system of fuel excise and rego.

And so, there we have it, "public barriers" to reforms are assumed to be insurmountable.

Underlying this assumption is the persistent misalignment between Commonwealth and state governments in terms of the recognition for, and willingness to adopt, a productively bipartisan, long-range approach to infrastructure funding.

That is, one less concerned with the loss of votes and consequences upon the next election cycle, and more concerned with addressing a growing problem that will be bequeathed to forthcoming generations.

Last week's comments by former Treasury boss Ken Henry couldn't have been better timed. Despite being reliant on each other like never before to co-fund projects, public spats between governments have now reached epidemic proportions.

It's little wonder that the public wallows in the depths of confusion over the options being debated by the powers that be for the future funding of their infrastructure.

Whilst the Townsville City Deal provides a ray of hope, we're entitled to ask why fiscally constrained governments won't work more effectively together to stretch our taxpayer dollar.

Aside from the necessity for political alignment and consistency, there is a basic need to communicate with the public in a manner it can understand.

Reforms of this nature are sensitive matters: they have consequences for people's everyday lives.

At face value, the introduction of a new levy, tax or user charge doesn't ring with resounding appeal to Joe or Jane Public. Thus, the conversation is one that must be had in terms to which the average citizen can relate.

To the public, it's a conversation about queuing for the bus, getting stuck for an hour in traffic, and the ability to pay utility bills. It's not about GDP and macroeconomics.

Experience indicates that when the public has the matter explained in terms it can relate to, vast numbers of the citizenry not only support this type of reform, they often demand an explanation as to why sluggish politicians have sat on their hands for so long.

The asset recycling, debt reduction and reinvestment program in New South Wales is a case in point.

Authorities and political parties can't, however, initiate this type of productive communication in the absence of leadership alignment and mature, solutions-based communication between the levels of government, supported by a coherent and consistent policy.

Without this, the status quo will persist: poor public consultation, a head-in-the-sand mentality and/or Mexican stand-offs between the Commonwealth and state governments, emotive grandstanding by politicians and near total inertia on reform.

Steve Abson is chief executive officer of the Infrastructure Association of Queensland

Unless the state grasps the funding initiative ... CRR is stalled sadly ... just being realistic.

Politics has conspired against progress.  Dumb voters doesn't help either, a point well made by Mr Abson.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

28th February 2017

How will Cross River Rail be funded?

Good Morning,

The fact that Cross River Rail is still languishing at at ' High Priority Initiatives ' behind ' High Priority Projects '  and  ' Priority Projects ' on the latest Infrastructure Priority List, Project and Initiative Summaries [ http://infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/policy-publications/publications/files/Australian-Infrastructure-Plan-2017.pdf ] means that it is very unlikely that the Federal Government (right or wrong) is going to put funds towards the project at present.

This point is well made by Mr Steve Abson Chief Executive Officer of the Infrastructure Association of Queensland in today's Couriermail [ http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/opinion-voters-the-biggest-roadblock-to-infrastructure-funding/news-story/bb231ee09172037ca1c06a72a2aa4d91 ]

Quote: " ... But keeping Cross River Rail in the "initiative" rather than "project" group won't commit the Commonwealth to an investment approval, and seems in conflict with the tremendous benefits this project will bring to the whole southeast Queensland region. "

This is reality.

Other states have significant public transport projects in the priority project groups, for example Melbourne's Metro Rail.

What federal funds that are directed to public transport will go to these priority projects rather than initiatives.
Queensland left floundering as usual.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track https://backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Latest media: &#39; How will Cross River Rail be funded? &#39;
> https://t.co/AucoF3nNA4#qldpol #auspol
" Queensland left floundering as usual. " pic.twitter.com/zbsJzKg5DY

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) February 27, 2017

[ozbob]

[#Metro]

"Shovel Ready" is such an insult. What does it mean?

Fancy way to say "we have plans on our computer".

Instead of describing it as shovel ready, it should be called "politics not ready" and "funding not ready" project.

[ozbob]

^ they have moved on from ' shovel ready ' it is ' shovels in the ground ' by the end of this year now ...



Whoa ... hope so 

[#Metro]

^ they have moved on from ' shovel ready ' it is ' shovels in the ground ' by the end of this year now ...

Probably digging the proverbial grave for the project. (You have a gravestone pic for this Ozbob!)

It will be a relief when the election is called I tell you. Provided it is late enough, 4-year terms will apply and then there will be no excuse really.

[kram0]

Ozbob, have you made contact with the LNP to ask them to detail there plans? It would be worth a call to Deb Frecklington office. It would be good if the media put the blow torch on the LNP too.

[ozbob]

Ozbob, have you made contact with the LNP to ask them to detail there plans? It would be worth a call to Deb Frecklington office. It would be good if the media put the blow torch on the LNP too.

LNP receive all communications.  They don't have any policies in this space that I am aware of.

[Stillwater]

CRR is following the same trajectory as SCL duplication -- endless reviews and re-scoping.  Pretty soon this project will be re-scoped yet again to resemble something akin to the tunnel featured in the movie 'The Great Escape'.  There will be a tunnel, the pollies will say, but it will be such a disappointing compromise that we will be back in 5-10 years with a further round of investment and planning to fix up what wasn't got right the first time round.

[BrizCommuter]

CRR is following the same trajectory as SCL duplication -- endless reviews and re-scoping.  Pretty soon this project will be re-scoped yet again to resemble something akin to the tunnel featured in the movie 'The Great Escape'.  There will be a tunnel, the pollies will say, but it will be such a disappointing compromise that we will be back in 5-10 years with a further round of investment and planning to fix up what wasn't got right the first time round.

CRR Mk4 will probably be single track, or an LNP road tunnel.

[tazzer9]

CRR is following the same trajectory as SCL duplication -- endless reviews and re-scoping.  Pretty soon this project will be re-scoped yet again to resemble something akin to the tunnel featured in the movie 'The Great Escape'.  There will be a tunnel, the pollies will say, but it will be such a disappointing compromise that we will be back in 5-10 years with a further round of investment and planning to fix up what wasn't got right the first time round.

CRR Mk4 will probably be single track, or an LNP road tunnel.

You say that, but I saw an article only today about the LNP's dumb metro using bi articulated buses.   So the LNP have already publicly stated they want a road tunnel.

[QLDBUS]

CRR NO.4 Duplication off the Merivale Bridge and 8 Tracks between Roma And Bowen Hills with half the Cost of CRR NO.3

[ozbob]

Queensland Parliament Hansard

Ministerial Statements

https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/hansard/2017/2017_02_28_DAILY.pdf

Cross River Rail

Hon. JA TRAD (South Brisbane—ALP) (Deputy Premier, Minister for Transport and Minister for
Infrastructure and Planning) (9.48 am): Cross River Rail is this government's highest priority
infrastructure project, presenting—

Opposition members interjected.

Ms TRAD: Perhaps if I had started with 'No. 1 William Street' they would be more excited. They
like a good infrastructure project, as long as it is for them, not for Queenslanders. Cross River Rail is
this government's highest priority infrastructure project, presenting a unique opportunity to transform
South-East Queensland. In fact, Infrastructure Australia has just released its updated infrastructure
priority list and reconfirmed that Cross River Rail is a high-priority initiative for the near future.
Cross River Rail will free up the transport network right across South-East Queensland by
removing a bottleneck across the Brisbane River. It will get commuters home faster and create
thousands of jobs.

Opposition members interjected.

Mr SPEAKER: Thank you, members. I am being tolerant.

Ms TRAD: A second river rail crossing and four new stations, plus the upgrades to Exhibition
and Dutton Park stations, will unlock capacity in the inner city network benefitting all of South-East
Queensland. Whether you drive or whether you catch public transport to travel around South-East
Queensland, Cross River Rail will get you there faster. It will mean 14 minutes on the average commute
from Cleveland to—

Opposition members interjected.

Mr SPEAKER: Thank you, members.

Ms TRAD: What is not a laughing matter is the fact that this project would be under construction
if those opposite had not cancelled it. That is not a laughing matter. This project will make sure that
Queenslanders can travel around the South-East Queensland corner faster: 14 minutes on the average
commute from Cleveland to the southern CBD; nine minutes from the Sunshine Coast.
Opposition members interjected.

Mr SPEAKER: Members, if you persist I will take the appropriate action.

Ms TRAD: 15 minutes from Beenleigh—

Mrs Frecklington interjected.

Mr SPEAKER: Deputy Leader of the Opposition, you are warned under standing order 253A for
your continuous interjections. It is disorderly. If you persist I will take the appropriate action.

Ms TRAD: Thank you. It is also a pathetic joke. The Coordinator-General is now assessing—
Opposition members interjected.

Mr SPEAKER: Thank you, members.

Ms TRAD: The Coordinator-General is now assessing the request for project change in relation
to the environmental impact statement for Cross River Rail that was approved in 2012. We are now
conducting public consultation on this change until 27 March. This change is required because technical
investigations and community consultation since 2012 have identified ways to improve the design and
the construction methods that will significantly reduce community impacts. Of course there will be some
construction impacts, but the long-term, city-building benefits will greatly outweigh any short-term
inconvenience. It will mean 18,500 less car trips every day by 2036, making it easier for people to live,
work or run a business outside the inner city. It will mean that we can deliver turn-up-and-go services,
with a train leaving every six minutes on average during peak periods. It will mean the capacity for an
extra 5,400 peak hour seats on the Sunshine Coast and Redcliffe Peninsula lines and 8,600 extra peak
hour seats into the city on the Gold Coast and Beenleigh lines.

I want to conclude by giving a quick shout out to the Sunshine Coast Lightning who had their first
home ground win on the weekend. The girls put in an absolutely stellar performance in their
come-from-behind victory over the Melbourne Vixens. The Lightning have joined the Suncorp Super
Netball competition and I am very excited to say I will be a patron of the Lightning this year after much
encouragement from their number 1 fan, Sunshine Coast mayor, Mark Jamieson. Most importantly
though, the Lightning are the first ever elite sports team to be based on the Sunshine Coast and if the
sold-out crowd was anything to go by I am sure they will not be the last

[ozbob]

Queensland Parliament Hansard

Private Members' Statements

https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/hansard/2017/2017_02_28_DAILY.pdf

Cross River Rail

Mrs FRECKLINGTON (Nanango—LNP) (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (10.20 am): What
have seen there? We have a Deputy Premier of this state and all she cares about is politics, not jobs.
It is obvious that this Deputy Premier has an unhealthy obsession with the Leader of the Opposition—
an absolute unhealthy obsession.

Government members interjected.

Mr SPEAKER: Thank you, members. I know we are very jovial this morning.

Mrs FRECKLINGTON: This from the Deputy Premier who does not even know what her job is.
We had the Deputy Premier in her ministerial statement say that my—

Government members interjected.

Mr SPEAKER: Thank you, members. We will move on.

Mrs FRECKLINGTON: The Deputy Premier thought Boulia was Biloela the other day. After I
interjected and said, 'Where is the funding?' the Deputy Premier called it a pathetic joke. This from the
Deputy Premier who is in fairy land around Cross River Rail. She is naming Cross River Rail as her
supposed No. 1 project but she has no funding. The Premier when she was the transport minister was
obviously remarkably ill-informed or stretching the truth when back in 2013 she said that Cross River
Rail was shovel ready. She obviously does not have a plan to fund it. She has not called for tenders
and has no state environmental approvals.

Let's get the facts out there in relation to this ill-fated project. We have seen—and I can table—
the Deputy Premier's own secret business case in relation to this.

Tabled paper: Executive Summary—Business Case Cross River Rail project.

What does this secret business case say in relation to the Deputy Premier's own time line? By
now expressions of interest should have been released for construction. We have seen no procurement
strategy and no value-sharing strategy, except for the Deputy Premier saying she is going to slug
Queenslanders with five secret new taxes. We have had no funding strategy for it and there has been
no market sounding for this project at all.

After two years of being in government, this do-nothing Labor government is not able to deliver
on its No. 1 project. This is an ill-fated project that has completely been derailed by this Deputy Premier,
who is too busy playing politics and misleading the people of Queensland. They have no plan to fund
it. They have no funding. This is another iteration of another rail fail.

[Stillwater]

RailBOT members should observe how Ms Trad has skilfully wiped a focus on the QR RailFail off the front pages and out of the evening news bulletins by switching gaze to CRR, which is going nowhere.  She should be called to account, daily, about how she is progressing the QR structure and the lack of drivers and trains.

The Minister is a very skilful politician.

Ms Trad is not so much concerned about CRR being built so that people can get home quicker at night.  CRR, or the illusion of it, is a political gimmick to grab some green preferences and votes in inner-city Brisbane (including her own electorate) at the next state election.

The head of the Commonwealth department called it as it is.  This project has been submitted and pulled, redesigned and re-scoped and resubmitted so many times that the feds can only list it as a 'potential project', even though Ms Trad insists it is 'shovel ready'.  CRR is not shovel ready - far from it.  Who would fund it from government or the private sector when the ink is never dry on a set of plans?

So, how many drivers and guards are in training today Ms Trad?  And when will the NGR trains be running on the network, in revenue service?

[ozbob]

 

[BrizCommuter]

CRR NO.4 Duplication off the Merivale Bridge and 8 Tracks between Roma And Bowen Hills with half the Cost of CRR NO.3

That plan was assessed and rejected a long time ago.

[achiruel]

when will the NGR trains be running on the network, in revenue service?

I think the question should be asked of the Shadow Minister for Transport why trains entirely unsuitable for use on QR's network were ordered under his watch.

[v6hilux]

I think the question should be asked of the Shadow Minister for Transport why trains entirely unsuitable for use on QR's network were ordered under his watch.

As Joe would say - "Don't you worry about that!"

[HappyTrainGuy]

when will the NGR trains be running on the network, in revenue service?

I think the question should be asked of the Shadow Minister for Transport why trains entirely unsuitable for use on QR's network were ordered under his watch.

Wasn't going to be their problem as Newman was going to privitise the railways.

[ozbob]

Letter to the Editor Queensland Times 2nd March 2017 page 15

Queenslanders are being put behind

[Cazza]

Anyone else get that fancy 'project newsletter' in the mail yesterday?

[Monster]

Anyone else get that fancy 'project newsletter' in the mail yesterday?

Sure did (Although it was in Wednesday's mail).

Overkill much? Whoever is in charge of Govt PR/spin really needs to be replaced. I am confused as to what they were trying to achieve with this? :conf