Tony Moore reports in the Brisbane Times (27.6.16) on increasing calls for a more concerted funding commitment from state and federal governments to cement the future of the Cross River Rail project in Brisbane.
‘Five days before the federal election Queensland’s Labor state government has promised $800 million “in principle” to match federal the Labor’s opposition’s “conditional” $800 million promise for Brisbane’s $5.4 billion underground rail project.
‘The announcement comes as senior infrastructure engineers on Monday questioned the “piecemeal and stop-gap” infrastructure planning from successive Queensland governments.
‘In Queensland’s state budget a fortnight ago only $50 million was put forward for the Brisbane underground rail project, the Cross River Rail, to put a “delivery vehicle” in place.
‘On Monday, after being approved by state cabinet, $800 million was announced to come from the $1.5 billion set aside in the state budget for future infrastructure projects, “pending federal government approval”.’