The Government of Queensland in Australia has shortlisted a number of companies for the contract to develop the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail infrastructure project.
All shortlisted companies will now be required to prepare detailed bids that demonstrate innovative solutions.
Cross River Rail is a 6-mile-long rail line connecting Dutton Park and Bowen Hills, which includes a 3.6-mile twin tunnel under the Brisbane River and Brisbane central business district, as well as four new underground stations.
Demand for Brisbane's rail services is forecasted to double by 2026, and triple by 2036, according to The Urban Developer. The project seeks to provide transport options to 164,000 passengers daily.
The process to select the consortium to build Cross River Rail is expected to take between 12 and 18 months.
The underground rail system is expected to be finished in 2024, generating 7700 jobs during construction.
It will be the first major underground infrastructure built in Brisbane since Brisbane City Council finished the Legacy Way car and bus tunnel in June 2015.
The short-listed tenderers for the tunnels, stations and associated development are:
- Pulse, which includes the CIMIC companies (formerly Leightons); Pacific Partnerships, CPB Contractors, its underground rail engineering company UGL, Ghella, which worked on Legacy Way, Israeli civil engineering group DIF, which has an Australian arm, and BAM;
- Qonnect, which includes the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), Capella Capital, Lendlease, John Holland and French civil engineers Bouygues, which has an Australian arm;
- CentriQ Partnerships, which includes civil engineers ACCIONA, which worked on Legacy Way, civil engineering public private partnership group Plenary Group, GS Engineering, Italian infrastructure giant Salini Impregilo and the Spotless Group.
Tenderers for the rail and the rail signalling systems:
- River City Alliance, which includes Laing O’Rourke Australia Construction, GHD, Aurecon Australasia Pty Ltd and engineering project managers SYSTRA Scott Lister Australia Pty Ltd;
- Unity Alliance, which includes CPB Contractors, UGL Engineering, infrastructure managers Jacobs Group Australia and AECOM Australia.
