Cross River Rail Project

[verbatim9]

Roma Street looks bare now

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/CrossRiverRail/status/1307575260594819072

[kram0]

I went past the Boggo Road CRR site on the train this morning and the activity level has definitely decreased, with visibly less boots on the ground.

Oh to know what is going on here........   

[red dragin]

I went past the Boggo Road CRR site on the train this morning and the activity level has definitely decreased, with visibly less boots on the ground.

Oh to know what is going on here........

It's not just an RDO day?

[kram0]

I went past the Boggo Road CRR site on the train this morning and the activity level has definitely decreased, with visibly less boots on the ground.

Oh to know what is going on here........

It's not just an RDO day?

I would say no as it has been quiet the last few times to be honest.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Heavy trucks pass hospital all night under Cross River Rail proposal

Heavy trucks could be allowed to operate daily and at all hours down a Woolloongabba street behind the Princess Alexandra Hospital under a Cross River Rail proposal to fast-track construction.

The Cross River Rail Delivery Authority recently submitted a request for change to the Coordinator-General to allow heavy trucks to use Kent Street, past Dutton Park train station, to access Cornwall Street and Annerley Road, at all hours rather than existing limits to 10pm.

The rail project needs to set up a Boggo Road train station worksite on the eastern side of the railway line, behind the hospital, and wants the change to help complete that work and remove existing Queensland Rail buildings.

A CRRDA spokesman said, if approved, there would be an average of four heavy vehicles on Kent Street an hour, in addition to the eight light vehicles an hour now allowed.

"During the peak construction period, around May 2022, up to 10 heavy vehicles movements an hour will be required," he said, saying the change in route would allow for a "minor increase" in heavy vehicle movement.

Kent Street is used by light vehicles to access the construction site, and the authority also wants to organise some roadwork at the Annerly Road and Cornwall Street intersection to allow for trucks to turn in and out safely.

The proposal would require council approval for some work in the road corridor, to manage large deliveries and extended concrete pours, the authority said in its proposal to the Coordinator-General.

A CRRDA spokesman said the changes would allow "safer and more efficient heavy vehicle access into the eastern side of the rail corridor, rather than having to rely on O'Keefe Street and the Boggo Road busway as previously proposed".

"Minor physical modifications will be made to the Annerley Road and Cornwall Street centre median strip, and the eastern kerb line at the Cornwall Street and Kent Street intersection, to accommodate heavy vehicles," he said.

Independent Tennyson ward councillor Nicole Johnston wrote to the Coordinator-General saying she was concerned about pedestrian safety in the high-traffic area if the request was approved.

"There is no safe crossing point across Cornwall Street at Annerley Road between Dutton Park Rail Station and Hefferan Park," she wrote.

"In addition, there is extremely limited pedestrian storage and passing space on the Dutton Park Rail Station corner of the intersection.

"Large trucks already have trouble turning at this intersection, frequently running over the kerb and putting pedestrian lives at risk."

Cr Johnston said the current plan for heavy trucks to enter and exit via O'Keefe Street, near the busway on the northern side of the hospital, should be retained.

The CRRDA spokesman said the change would last the life of the project, expected to be 2024.

"While residents may see a minor increase in traffic overnight, the predicted increase in traffic noise is less than one decibel – well below the project's noise goals and levels most people can detect," he said.

Public comment on the proposal is open until 5pm, Friday, October 2.

[Otto]

I went past the Boggo Road CRR site on the train this morning and the activity level has definitely decreased, with visibly less boots on the ground.

Oh to know what is going on here........

It's not just an RDO day?

I would say no as it has been quiet the last few times to be honest.

Seems to ramp up at night lately. The busway passing the construction site often becomes a 1 lane contra flow at night.

[James]

I went past the Boggo Road CRR site on the train this morning and the activity level has definitely decreased, with visibly less boots on the ground.

Oh to know what is going on here........

Could be any number of things. There could be a shift to night works as they need to do a part closure of the busway to get anything done, or there could be a 'go slow' due to the technical challenges associated with building CRR in this area. Could also just be waiting on something to happen / arrive before work picks up.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/bne2025/status/1313332516200181760

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Planner who worked on Cross River Rail says urgent changes are needed

The Queensland government's flagship $5.4 billion Cross River Rail project has been referred to the Auditor-General over claims it can not deliver the additional trains it has promised.

Rail infrastructure expert David Bannister, who made the referral, said three urgent changes needed to be made by March to allow it to be efficient in the long-term.

Mr Bannister worked on the project with Queensland Rail from 2009 to 2016 and has compared changes made to the plans in July 2019 with Cross River Rail's 2017 business case.

"When I compared the July 2019 changes to the 2017 business case, and I looked at the service plan that was possible on the track layout they had provided, it became really obvious that this was a fundamentally flawed way of trying to connect Cross River Rail into the network," Mr Bannister said.

He said the 2019 changes, CRR's fourth iteration, added no extra trains from north coast rail services while adding four trains an hour from all lines running north-south through Brisbane.

Mr Bannister said that was not apparent to average Queenslanders because the project team had not published a service plan for the project.

While extra capacity was added to the Ferny Grove line, most population growth was on the Sunshine and Gold Coast fringes, he said.

"Cross River Rail will provide a capacity increase to the north coast line services of between 0 per cent and 25 per cent, and effectively no increase in service frequency overall," Mr Bannister said.

"For the lines with low growth and low patronage, the Ferny Grove and Shorncliffe lines, capacity increases of 250 per cent and 125 per cent, respectively, are being provided."

Mr Bannister referred the project to the Auditor-General last month after receiving no reply to his research from Queensland's Co-ordinator General, or the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority.

The Queensland Audit Office said it would publish a report on transport issues "in December 2020, or early 2021".

Cross River Rail is designed to work by adding a third underground link to Brisbane's existing Main and Suburban lines.

CRR's 2019 track layout changes shift everything that arrived on Brisbane northside on the Main line - the Redcliffe Peninsula, Caboolture and Sunshine Coast – to the Cross River Rail line, Mr Bannister said.

"So all that North Coast line traffic, instead of going straight ahead, turns right at the Mayne yard and goes through Cross River Rail, so all those trains from the North Coast line are just re-routed," he said.

"It means they have gone from a 24 trains per hour corridor to 24 trains per hour corridor, so where the growth was required – the North Coast line – they actually don't get any."

A Cross River Rail Delivery Authority spokesman said Mr Bannister's issues were investigated and rejected.

"The new Cross River Rail line will have capacity for 24 trains per hour in each direction," he said.

"That will in turn allow more trains to run more often across the entire south-east Queensland rail network."

Some lines run only eight trains an hour, meaning there was existing capacity for expansion in the network, the spokesman said.

He said the July 2019 final design for Cross River Rail was approved by Queensland's Coordinator-General.

"The independent Coordinator-General has approved the Cross River Rail project proceeding to its final design and Queenslanders can have a high level of confidence that the project's design and planning is robust," the spokesman said.

"Mr Bannister's submission was considered as part of the project's approval process.

"Experts from the Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland Rail, the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority and the major contractors have reviewed Mr Bannister's suggestions.

"However they have not been incorporated into the final design."

The Cross River Rail Delivery Authority did not explain why it had not published a service plan, which would outline how the underground project would mesh with the network.

"I am a big advocate for transparency and the way projects are conveyed to the public effectively," Mr Bannister said.

"I don't believe that has been the case with Cross River Rail."

Brisbane's existing rail track capacity

Main corridor – 20 trains per hour, but can increase to 24 trains per hour with new signalling (Kippa-Ring line, Ipswich and Springfield, Caboolture and Sunshine Coast trains)

Suburban corridor - 24 trains per hour (Ferny Grove, airport trains, Doomben and Shorncliffe line services)

New Cross River Rail corridor – 24 trains per hour. (North Coast and South Coast lines, plus chosen suburban lines)

David Bannister: "While Cross River Rail may be able to cater for 48 trains per hour, it will not increase the overall usage of the network by this much due to the way it is configured."

[ozbob]

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[ozbob]

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[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1316824539695734784

[kram0]

Good luck and thank you David, but I do not like the chances of them seeing the big picture and planning for the long term.

What powers does the Auditor-General have to alter this?

[ozbob]

Good luck and thank you David, but I do not like the chances of them seeing the big picture and planning for the long term.

What powers does the Auditor-General have to alter this?

David has worked hard in an attempt to get the best outcome for Cross River Rail.  We are all very grateful.

https://www.qao.qld.gov.au/audits/contribute-audits-queensland

Requests for ' Performance Audits ' are invited by the QAO.

The QAG doesn't have a direct authority to alter a project, but can make recommendations to the Government of the day. 
It would be somewhat foolish to ignore those recommendations.

If you recall we made a written request to the QAO for an audit of the NGR project, at a time that could have saved a lot of money if it was done.

We were fobbed off.  Let's hope David's request is not fobbed off.  Fixing up the mess that the present operating plan looks like making is going to very expensive to rectify down the track.

Far better to get it right now.

[kram0]

Good luck and thank you David, but I do not like the chances of them seeing the big picture and planning for the long term.

What powers does the Auditor-General have to alter this?

David has worked hard in an attempt to get the best outcome for Cross River Rail.  We are all very grateful.

https://www.qao.qld.gov.au/audits/contribute-audits-queensland

Requests for ' Performance Audits ' are invited by the QAO.

The QAG doesn't have a direct authority to alter a project, but can make recommendations to the Government of the day. 
It would be somewhat foolish to ignore those recommendations.

If you recall we made a written request to the QAO for an audit of the NGR project, at a time that could have saved a lot of money if it was done.

We were fobbed off.  Let's hope David's request is not fobbed off.  Fixing up the mess that the present operating plan looks like making is going to very expensive to rectify down the track.

Far better to get it right now.

He has indeed been fighting hard for improvements to CRR. I have been following very closely.

I even sent over his recommendations to a friend of mine who is one of the senior engineers on the project, but he also dismissed David's recommendations.

I am not an engineer or network strategist, but even I can make sense out of what David is trying to recommend, and it pi$$es me off that the government are just cutting corners for some short term gain.

While the core of the project is very good, if the infrastructure at each end is not close to where it should be, we are wasting massive sums of our tax payer dollars. 

Hopefully the Courier Mail can pick up on this article and run something similar, thus putting it in the spotlight even more.

[SurfRail]

They would be able to defuse any concerns by releasing the operational modelling and service plans to scrutiny.  If it will work, why the hush hush?  Hmm.

[BrizCommuter]

A few mistakes in the BT article, but it gets the general point of the problem - limited extra services, most services just shifted between tracks, suburbans will end up with 66% spare capacity.

[SteelPan]

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cross-river-rail-alternate-vision-david-bannister?articleId=6547589344130146304#comments-6547589344130146304&trk=public_profile_article_view

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Premier, Transport Minister unaware expert referred Cross River Rail to Auditor-General

The Queensland Premier and Transport Minister were unaware their government's flagship $5.4 billion Cross River Rail project was referred to the Auditor-General by concerned infrastructure expert David Bannister.

Mr Bannister claims the project can not deliver the extra trains it has promised and says three urgent changes are needed to be made by March to allow it to be efficient in the long term.

Mr Bannister worked on the project with Queensland Rail from 2009 to 2016 and has compared changes made to the plans in July 2019 with Cross River Rail's 2017 business case.

In response to the concerns raised by Mr Bannister, Transport Minister Mark Bailey said he was made aware of the referral to the Auditor-General after reading the Brisbane Times report.

"There's lots of different theories, but we've got another 4½ years until it opens so there's still a lot of normal consequential work that will happen, but I am very confident in that project," he said.

Mr Bannister also raised concerns over the low-growth and low-patronage Ferny Grove and Shorncliffe lines getting a capacity increase of 250 per cent and 125 per cent, respectively.

"We haven't released what the new service plan will look like and there's still some work to be done, so I think he is a bit premature in presuming he knows all of those answers," Mr Bailey responded.

"With 4½ years to go there is still a lot of planning going on and there's a lot of different ways you can do a rail system, but we want to make sure we have the best one, so we're doing a lot of work around that to maximise the wins for commuters."

Mr Bannister referred the project to the Auditor-General last month after receiving no reply to his research from Queensland's Coordinator-General, or the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority.

"I've had many people grab me with their own theories around how Cross River Rail should happen and I welcome his contributions," Mr Bailey responded.

"But it is only one of a lot of different perspectives out there, but we are very confident in that project."

The Cross River Rail project includes a 10.2-kilometre stretch of rail track, with 5.9 kilometres to be incorporated in a tunnel, and will incorporate four underground stations.

The project will overhaul public transport in the region and revitalise the precincts near the new stations at Boggo Road, Albert Street, Roma Street and Woolloongabba.

It promises to deliver an extra 18,000 seats on Brisbane trains, take 14,000 drivers off the roads, cut travel time on existing south-east Queensland train lines and create more than 7700 jobs.

Changes needed to Cross River Rail project, according to David Bannister

The 2017 northern entrance around the train stabling yard at Mayne should be returned. "This would allow, in conjunction with signalling and platform upgrades, up to 30 trains per hour to operate from north of Northgate, compared to 24 trains otherwise."

Underground "tunnel stubs" are needed at Roma Street station to allow for future tunnel connection to the Trouts Road corridor on Brisbane's northside. "This will allow an ultimate capacity of 48 trains per hour from north of Strathpine, compared to 24 trains otherwise, as well as new catchment and substantially faster travel times from the Sunshine Coast."

Underground "tunnel stubs" at Park Road station to allow the tunnel to be extended to Yeerongpilly in the future, as per the original plans. "This will ultimately allow for 48 trains per hour from south of Salisbury, as well as improving travel times to the Gold Coast and removing the freight curfew between the Port of Brisbane and Acacia Ridge including Inland Rail."

[ozbob]

^

Quote:

"We haven't released what the new service plan will look like and there's still some work to be done, so I think he is a bit premature in presuming he knows all of those answers," Mr Bailey responded.

How can they build something if they don't know how the service plans?   

I call bullsh%t!

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1317117216358191105

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1317123081593180160

[ozbob]

Good Morning Lurkers!

Have a nice day now ... 

[ozbob]

TMR Disclosure log https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/About-us/Right-to-Information/Disclosure-log.aspx

[Fares_Fair]

 

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1317489835649626112

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1317490859487625219

[BrizCommuter]

Love the "wet wrap-ad" comment! Will be writing a pre-election article soon.

[ozbob]

Minerva Transport Planning Company Limited has released their document:

The Minerva Plan - a rail strategy for Southeast Queensland

> https://backontrack.org/docs/crr/db/MinervaPlan1.0.pdf PDF 7.1MB

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1319459151911636992

[ozbob]

Facebook ...

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1319660998093983744

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1319662452116615169

[timh]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1319459151911636992

I went through this on the weekend. Most is stuff that members like BC have been saying on here for ages (kudos to him ) about the need to reconfigure the tracks at Mayne and allow for tunnel stubs to extend the tunnel to Yeerongpilly. All smart stuff, definitely should be included but I'm worried at this stage that it won't be. As Gazza said somewhere here it's likely they don't care about the potential for large network disruptions should they decide to build these upgrades (ie long tunnel, NWTC) at a later date.

There is some strange ideas in that report though. I dunno if I agree with the "Clevewich" line. If there was going to be a third east-west Rail tunnel built I'd much rather see it service a new corridor (the indro/uq/west end/KP/Newstead/Bulimba/Hamilton corridor we've talked about before). The "Clevewich" idea also turns Park road-Cannon Hill into a shuttle which is pretty silly imo

There's also the matter of what to do about Doomben. The report suggests truncating at Eagle Junction and converting to a shuttle (and hints at the idea of an LRT conversion). I get where they're coming from but I feel like patronage would pretty much disappear if you did that. Idk it's a tricky one. Rezoning for higher density along the corridor to encourage patronage could help (but would be very unpopular given it's Ascot lol). Maybe the Doomben line would become the eastern end of the east/west corridor mentioned above? Idk


The report does a great job of identifying new stabling locations and fleet requirements. We are gonna need a lot more trains lol. It does also suggest twice hourly 9-car trains to Gympie North tho which seems like overkill.

The report also seems to overlook the existence of any Regional Fast Rail proposal, or at least barely considers them. Most talk of outer Beenleigh/GC line upgrades are referring to the existing corridor, with very little mention of a new alignment. There is no mention of passenger service to Toowoomba at all which I think would be a big consideration going forward for any potential major changes to Western services (like the whole Clevewich thing)

Overall though it's a very useful bit of documentation to use as ammunition in our fight for a better CRR project though as all the points it brings up there are very well thought out

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[kram0]

Some excellent ideas in his plan, especially in the short term around the long term planning for the network, with small cost outlay compared to the total cost.

First things they (this secretive government) should be doing is going back to the original 2017 track layout through Mayne (see below), as it just works so much easier for network planning and flexibility and also include tunnel stubs. This will allow breathing room in order to plan for the future, without costing more to the taxpayer in the future, once they realised they have stuffed up by not listening.

No wonder the feds did not cough up the money to help fund CRR with no service delivery plan and many secrets behind the project

http://eisdocs.dsdip.qld.gov.au/Cross%20River%20Rail/project-change-application/volume-3-cross-river-rail-design-drawings-sections/section-2-general-arrangement-12.pdf

[ozbob]

Couriermail Quest --> 'A schoolkid will be killed': Cross River Rail trucks fear

Furious Annerley residents say plans to detour huge B-double trucks through a narrow suburban street could run the risk of school students and commuters being hurt or killed.

The Cross River Rail Delivery Authority (CRRDA) has applied to vary the conditions of its environmental impact statement (EIS) so trucks can operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At the moment they must stop by 10pm.

It currently uses O'Keefe St or streets around Boggo Road Gaol, Dutton Park, as a haulage route.

But the CRRDA has asked for heavy vehicles to be allowed to enter the work site's "southern portal'' at Kent St, via Annerley Rd and Cornwall St.

The portal is halfway between the Boggo Road and Dutton Park CCR stations.

The authority conceded in its application that Kent St was so narrow a median strip would have to be removed and the road widened.

"I fear a child walking to school or a commuter will be hurt as there is no safe crossing point,'' Tennyson ward Councillor Nicole Johnston said.

"Already, we are seeing trucks queued up waiting on Annerley and Fairfield roads. What will it be like when they operate 24 hours a day?

"We are talking about 10 trucks an hour, or 240 a day, seven days a week. It never gets less, these movements always end up being more.''

She said the 240 daily figure did not count concrete truck movements.

Noise mitigation in place was "a joke'', she claimed.

And many of the residents who would be kept awake by noise and vibrations worked at nearby Princess Alexandra Hospital.

A spokesman for Transport Minister Mark Bailey, whose electorate of Miller takes in the area, said Mr Bailey could not comment as the Government was still in caretaker mode following Saturday's election.

A CRRDA spokesman said the proposed changes would allow safer and more efficient heavy vehicle access into the eastern side of the rail corridor, rather than having to rely on O'Keefe Street and the Boggo Road busway as previously proposed.

"While residents may notice a minor increase in traffic, the predicted increase in traffic noise is less than one decibel – well below both the project's noise goals and levels most people can detect,'' he said.

"We are working closely with Brisbane City Council to ensure pedestrians and cyclists have a safe crossing location and, where practical, segregated pedestrian and cycling paths.''

But Cr Johnston said there was no safe pedestrian or cycle crossing point on Kent St, despite her efforts over the years to make Council install a zebra crossing.

The street is currently used by Dutton Park State School students walking to school and commuters using the busway or the existing Dutton Park railway station.

Already, they sometimes had to dodge trucks which mounted the kerb while turning corners.

To make matters worse, she said the State Government's new Inner South State Secondary College, several hundred metres away, would open next year.

"Allowing movement of more heavy vehicles along this stretch is unconscionable,'' Cr Johnston said.

"It's completely unacceptable for B doubles, semis and trucks.''

Cr Johnston said she had raised noise and safety risks in 2017 when she lodged a submission on the EIS.

She has now written to Council chief executive officer, Colin Jensen, and the Co-ordinator-General, urging them not to approve the application.

Submissions on the EIS closed on October 2 but a decision has not yet been announced.

Cr Johnston said she understood Council must authorise the works to the Kent St intersection. "Facilitating road widening changes without putting in place appropriate pedestrian and cycling safety facilities for local residents is negligent,'' she said in her letter to Mr Jensen.

"The proposal fails to acknowledge the existing road conditions, including congestion along Cornwall St during peak hour, making the turn from Annerley Rd difficult for long and heavy vehicles.

"The change proposal estimates that traffic volumes from Annerley Rd into Cornwall St are expected to increase by up to 23 per cent, further limiting safe pedestrian egress.

"Some of these heavy vehicles are 19m long. They are simply too big for the intersection and the tight turns required to enter, and exit, Kent St.

"In addition, there is a lack of safe queuing facilities on Annerley Rd for trucks and other vehicles waiting to turn right into Cornwall St, and a lack of turning time given the operation of the nearby intersection at Noble St/Cornwall St and Annerley Rd.

"Increased turning movements at this location will adversely impact on pedestrians' time and ability to safely cross Cornwall St, to get to and from Dutton Park Station and beyond to local schools, shops and homes.''

[BrizCommuter]

Surely running trucks at night decreases the chance of school kids and commuters getting hit by trucks?

[BrizCommuter]

So the election is over. Time for the government to come clean over the CRR rail operations plan, new train orders, and what is happening with Dutton Park.

[ozbob]

So the election is over. Time for the government to come clean over the CRR rail operations plan, new train orders, and what is happening with Dutton Park.

I am waiting to see who will get the poisoned chalice ..

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1324102313431101440