Moreton Bay Rail Link news
Work is underway on the Moreton Bay Rail Link project. The new line will include stations at Kallangur, Murrumba Downs, Mango Hill, Mango Hill East, Rothwell and Kippa-Ring. Keep up to date with the project by subscribing to the email newsletter.
April 2013
Kinsellas Road East bridge opened to traffic
The new road-over-rail bridge at Kinsellas Road East was opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony on 4 April. Federal member for Petrie, Yvette D’Ath, state member for Murrumba, Reg Gulley and Councillor Julie Greer representing Moreton Bay Regional Council, came together to open the new bridge to traffic in a milestone achievement for the MBRL project.
Some finalisation works, including line marking and landscaping, will continue for another month at the Kinsellas Road East project site. More information about the bridge is available on our In your area page.
Kinsellas Road East project school tree planting
Year 7 and 8 students from Mango Hill’s St Benedict’s School lent a helping hand to the project team in March by planting native trees on the eastern side of the project site, between the new Kinsellas Road East bridge and St Benedict’s school.
Mango Hill State School students will help out with some more planting on the western side of the project at the end of April as the work at Kinsellas Road draws to a close and marks the completion of the first stage of construction works for the Moreton Bay Rail Link.
Koala tagging and monitoring program
The Moreton Bay Rail Link project will be keeping a close eye on the movement and health of the local koala population with the March 2013 commencement of a comprehensive koala monitoring program.
Every koala spotted within the MBRL footprint and adjacent habitat will be given a health check and fitted with GPS radio collars over the next 12 months by leading wildlife vet Dr John Hanger and his team from Endeavour Veterinary Ecology.
The monitoring collars not only track the animals, but can alert the vets if the koala is sick or injured.
More information on the importance of the tagging and monitoring program can be found on our Koala Tagging and Monitoring page.
February 2013
Moreton Bay Rail Link tenderers shortlisted to 2
The selection process to find the best design and construction team to build the Moreton Bay Rail Link has reached the next stage, with the tenderers shortlisted from 4 to 2.
Letters of offer for this stage of the competitive tendering process have been sent to Salini Bielby Winslow Joint Venture and Thiess Contractors.
The 2 tenderers will work independently to develop their designs to a higher level of detail and plan the best methods for constructing the rail link.
Both tenderers have national and international credentials.
They will submit their tenders in May 2013. It is anticipated the contract will be awarded in about August 2013 with the successful tenderer announced on the Moreton Bay Rail Link Construction page soon after.
December 2012
A new station name for Kinsellas Road Station
The station previously known as Kinsellas Road has been renamed Mango Hill East Station.
This name change is in line with TransLink’s naming guidelines which ensure that station names effectively indicate their locality.
Construction making good progress in Mango Hill
Construction recently reached another milestone with the installation of concrete beams to span the bridge at Kinsellas Road East.
More information about the bridge is available on our In your area page.
A step closer to selecting the design and construction team
4 tenderers competing for selection as the preferred design and construction contractor have submitted their initial design reports.
Following a detailed assessment process, the tenderers will be short-listed to 2 for the final selection phase, which will kick off in February 2013. Details of tenderers are available on our Construction page.
Survey along the corridor
There has been some activity along the future rail corridor with surveyors and technical staff surveying property boundaries, station precincts and road connections. As well as ‘pegging out’ the reference design, investigation work has been underway to check the locations of services - such as water, gas and electricity - and get geotechnical (soil) samples along the route.
The survey activities started in October 2012 and are due to be completed in March 2013.
Koala tagging and monitoring program
At our environmental workshop in May 2012, the MBRL team outlined the project's Koala Action Plan, and how it reflects our intended strategies to manage and minimise effects on the koala population.
The project team is pleased to confirm that a koala tagging and monitoring program will be managed by the project team to make sure that we get accurate, relevant data about koala numbers and their movements well in advance of construction which is due to start in late 2013. The program will start in early in 2013 which is about 9 months before any clearing work begins. This will ensure that as many koalas as possible are tagged and given a health check prior to work starting on site.
November 2012
Prime Minister visits work site
Prime Minister Julia Gillard recently toured the Moreton Bay Rail Link work site at Mango Hill with the project's funding partners from 3 levels of government. State members Reg Gulley, Trevor Ruthenberg and Scott Driscoll were joined by Moreton Bay Regional Council Mayor Allan Sutherland and councillors Julie Greer and Koliana Winchester.
Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan and federal member for Petrie Yvette D’Ath also inspected construction of the road-over-rail bridge at Kinsellas Road East.
Changes for Kippa-Ring Station precinct
Planning has been progressing for Kippa-Ring Station precinct. The project team worked with a design company to make sure Kippa-Ring Station fits into the local community and provides a safe, modern and welcoming environment for users. The result has been to locate the station closer to Anzac Avenue than originally planned.
Read more about Kippa-Ring Station planning.
August 2012
Road-over-rail bridges to be included in rail contract
The design and construction of bridges at Dohles Rocks Road and Goodfellows Road at Kallangur will now be incorporated as part of the project’s rail design and construction contract. There will be no start to construction in the area until later in 2013.
Work undertaken by both tenderers for the proposed road-over-rail bridges at Dohles Rocks Road and Goodfellows Road was considered by the Department of Transport and Main Roads. The work showed that there were some issues with the proposed road-over rail bridge option that would be better managed if the works were incorporated in the rail contract and further investigation was undertaken by the rail tenderers as to the best way to integrate the rail and existing roads in the Kallangur area.
The designs and investigations that have been carried out to date will be provided to tenderers for the rail design and construction contract. The rail tenderers will evaluate the best way to design the rail and local roads either by road-over-rail bridges or raising the rail line above the existing road network in the Kallangur area.
The design for the rail line, station and bridges at this location will be developed throughout 2012 and into 2013, with construction beginning in the second half of 2013 along with the rest of the rail project.
The project team will continue to keep the community informed throughout the process and is available to answer any questions.
Moreton Bay Rail Link release of Request for Proposals
The project is taking the next step to find the best design and construction consortium to build the Moreton Bay Rail Link with the release of its Request for Proposals on 24 August 2012. The Request for Proposals is available on the Queensland Government eTender website.
The eTender page will provides contact details for anyone with technical or procurement queries.
An industry briefing was held on 17 August to give construction industry representatives an update about the forthcoming release of the Request for Proposals and to outline the procurement process.
The industry briefing presentation slides (PDF, 280 KB) are available for viewing.
June/July 2012
First construction contract awarded for Moreton Bay Rail Link
Work on site will soon be underway with the first construction contract awarded to McIlwain Civil Contractors to build a road-over-rail bridge in Mango Hill.
The Kinsellas Road East bridge in Mango Hill will be located near the future Kinsellas Road Station. It will provide 1 lane in each direction, on-road cycle lanes, a pedestrian footpath, a new roundabout at the intersection with Mango Hill Boulevard and a new connection at Kinsellas Road East with Anzac Avenue.
The project team will be in contact with local residents to provide information about upcoming construction activities.
January/February 2012
Moreton Bay Rail Link working with rail station designer
A locally-based design company has been appointed to create concept designs for the 6 new stations on the Moreton Bay Rail Link.
The design work will focus on functionality, layout and parking as well as access for pedestrians, cyclists, taxis and buses.
Concept designs for all 6 stations will be complete by mid-2012 and the community will be invited to view the plans.
The Moreton Bay Rail Link will include stations at Kallangur, Murrumba Downs. Mango Hill, Kinsellas Road, Rothwell and Kippa-Ring.
All available publications are listed on the Publications page.
