Sunshine Coast company Hall Contracting has secured a contract from Australia’s Queensland Government to execute the early works construction for the jointly funded Beerburrum to Nambour Rail Upgrade (B2N).
The Australian Government will provide $285.99m (A$390m) in funding, while the local authority in Queensland will contribute $117.91m (A$160.8m).
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This upgrade project is expected to enhance the freight and passenger connection between Brisbane and Cairns.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Barnaby Joyce said: “Investing in B2N is also about creating jobs and supporting the Sunshine Coast and Queensland’s economic recovery.”
The project will aid in removing congestion on the Bruce Highway, which is said to be the backbone of the region’s transport infrastructure.
Federal Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace said that initial works are scheduled to begin early next year.
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By GlobalDataWallace said: “The B2N project will provide additional track capacity and reliability, creating travel time savings and enabling increased passenger and freight services to the growing Sunshine Coast region.”
The initial works will create as many as 333 job opportunities.
More than 1,860 additional parking spaces will also be created, while leading towards the commencement of line duplication and separate passenger and freight rail at a point along the track.
The B2N project will also cover ‘park ‘n’ ride’ upgrades at the Nambour and Landsborough stations.
State Member for Nicklin Robert Skelton said: “The early works will increase the ‘park ‘n’ ride’ capacity at Landsborough and Nambour stations, helping to manage parking pressures in the surrounding streets and suburbs.”
As part of the project, the rail line will be duplicated between Beerburrum and Beerwah and three new road-over-rail bridges would be built, along with the expansion of the ‘park ‘n’ ride’ facility at Beerburrum.
Initial works are scheduled to begin in early 2022 and are expected to be completed by 2023.
Stage one of the construction is expected to be finished by 2025.
In June this year, the Queensland Government announced to equip its trains with new European Train Control System technology.
