The Beerburrum to Nambour rail upgrade project has reached a major milestone with the contract to deliver the Stage 1 announced.
The works package includes duplication of the rail line between Beerburrum and Beerwah, straightening the rail line between Beerburrum and Glass House Mountains, an upgraded park ’n’ ride facility at Beerburrum, new or upgraded road overpasses and upgraded train signalling systems.
Stage 1 now advances to its next phase under the joint venture between John Holland Queensland and Seymour Whyte.
The State Government said the awarding of the contract will allow the joint venture to continue the designs and start construction of the major works package.
Preliminary designs will be further refined, shared with the community and finalised, with construction, testing and commissioning activities delivered in a staged sequence of packages over the next three years.
Awarding of the contract follows completion of separate early works late last year.
This delivered an expanded park ‘n’ ride facility at Landsborough station with 300 new car parks and a new bus interchange on the eastern side of the station, an expanded park ‘n’ ride facility at Nambour station with 50 new car parks on the eastern side of the station, and realigned a section of Steve Irwin Way at Glass House Mountains to accommodate the new rail corridor and track infrastructure.
The government said the upgrade will increase the capacity and reliability of the North Coast Line, enabling more efficient travel and improved passenger and freight connections between the Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay, Brisbane and beyond.
It said Stage 1 ties in with the direct Sunshine Coast rail line at Beerwah and is among the projects being planned together to improve public transport services and infrastructure for the growing South East Queensland region.
The $1.004 billion project is jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments, with the Australian Government contributing $616.7 million and the Queensland contributing $387.5 million.
Construction of Stage 1 is scheduled to begin in 2025 and is expected to be completed in 2027, weather and construction conditions permitting.
