Cross River Rail funds welcomed

The Palaszczuk Government has welcomed the announcement that a future Labor Federal Government would invest in Queensland’s number one infrastructure project – Cross River Rail.

Deputy Premier and Treasurer Jackie Trad said that the commitment meant that Queensland would not have to go it alone on the project.

“Cross River Rail is essential to the future of transport in the whole South East region and we need to build it now,” Ms Trad said.

“That’s why the Queensland Government committed to fully fund the project on our own, after years of being ignored by the Turnbull LNP Government.

“This announcement by Bill Shorten and the Labor Opposition is very welcome and demonstrates Federal Labor’s commitment to busting congestion and delivering jobs in Queensland.

“Cross River Rail will fix the bottleneck over the Merivale Bridge, enabling us to run more trains, more often and get people home faster.

“It will mean turn-up-and-go frequency services and, as we have seen over the past fortnight at the Commonwealth Games, when you offer the services people will get out of their cars and onto public transport.

“It’s not good enough that the Prime Minister continues to ignore this critical project, instead choosing to fund pet projects in Melbourne and Sydney.  

“It’s clear that only Labor Governments will build the infrastructure that our state needs.”

Cross River Rail will deliver –

• For the Sunshine Coast - a train leaving the Sunshine Coast for Brisbane every 6 minutes on average during the morning peak
• For Moreton Bay - a train every 5 minutes on average during peak periods from Caboolture and Kippa Ring
• For the Gold Coast - a train leaving every 5 minutes on average during the peak
• For Ipswich - a train every 5 minutes on average during peak on both the Ipswich and Springfield lines
• For the Redlands - a train every 5.5 minutes on average during peak on the Cleveland line
• For Logan - a train every 2 minutes on average during peak on the Gold Coast/Beenleigh line

ENDS

Media Contact: Clare Manton 0432 446 268