Underground needs a name

One of Queensland’s largest infrastructure projects needs a name.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson and Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk will today launch a two-week competition which will see one Queenslander become part of history by naming the Underground Bus and Train project.

“This is a once-in-a-generation project and it needs a unique name to match,” Mr Emerson said

“The best name, chosen by an independent panel, will also win six months of free travel on the TransLink network and the two runners up will each receive go cards with $50 travel credit.

“Through better planning as we promised at the election, we are delivering better infrastructure to transform Brisbane’s public transport system.

“We’re providing for the future, not living in the public transport past as Labor was.

“I’ll also be entering a suggestion that represents the faster, more frequent, direct and reliable public transport that the project will provide for thousands of commuters.”

The Underground project combines a railway and busway in a single, 15-metre-wide tunnel, running from Dutton Park in the south to Victoria Park in the north.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the 5.4 kilometre north-south tunnel will have new underground stations located at Woolloongabba, George Street and Roma Street, providing a critical new link in South East Queensland’s public transport network.

“Brisbane’s infrastructure has some great names, from the historic William Jolly, Captain Cook and Queen Victoria to modern infrastructure named after Clem Jones, the Go Betweens, Eleanor Schonell and Legacy Way,” Cr Quirk said.

“While delivering this project will be a job for some of the most skilled engineers in the world, naming it will be down to the expertise of everyday Queenslanders.

“This project is a great example of different levels of government working together to address the city’s public transport capacity issues.”

Once completed, the project will lay the foundation for an international-standard ‘turn up and go’ transit system for Brisbane.

Entry is via the Get Involved website at www.tmr.qld.gov.au/undergroundcomp and is open until February 23, 2014. For further information on the project visit www.tmr.qld.gov.au/UBAT.

Media contacts:

Minister Emerson – Andrew Berkman 0429 128 637

Lord Mayor – Nick Kennedy 0437 831 581