The Pulse consortium has reached contractual close with the State of Queensland on the tunnels and stations package of Brisbane’s US$3.8bn Cross River Rail project.
The consortium is made up of Dutch contractor BAM, Italian tunnelling specialist Ghella, funder DIF and three Cimic Group companies: Pacific Partnerships, CPB Contractors and UGL
The design and construction will be delivered by a joint venture of CPB Contractors, Ghella, BAM and UGL. This will include four underground stations at Boggo Road, Woolloongabba, Albert Street and Roma Street, as well as a residential development above Albert Street station. UGL will provide maintenance services over 24 years.
Cimic Group has led the development of the project’s proposal, with lead sponsor Pacific Partnerships providing 49% of the equity finance, with the remaining 51% provided by DIF, BAM and Ghella Investments & Partnerships.
Michael Wright, Cimic Group chief executive, said: “Cimic Group’s integrated approach to PPP projects is based on our end-to-end capabilities across a project’s life cycle. As Australia’s premier rail infrastructure and services provider, we will finance, design, construct and maintain the new tunnels and rail stations, in partnership with the state government, to deliver world-class rail assets and services for South East Queensland.”
Revenue for Cimic from the project is expected to be about $1.6bn. Construction work will begin later this year.
Image: Cross River Rail’s rendering of the scheme
