Woolloongabba railway station

Woolloongabba
Woolloongabba railway station under construction in February 2021
General information
Location	Main Street, Woolloongabba
Owned by	Queensland Rail
Operated by	Queensland Rail
Line(s)	Cross River Rail
Platforms	2
Tracks	2
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Under construction
Fare zone	Go card zone 1
Website	www.crossriverrail.qld.gov.au
History
Opened	2026 (scheduled)
Electrified	Yes

Woolloongabba railway station is a railway station currently under construction as part of the Cross River Rail project in the Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba.

The new station will be located underground, beneath The Gabba, and will consist of two platforms with a connection to the nearby bus station.^[1] Construction commenced in November 2019, and it is scheduled to open in 2026.^[2] The platforms are being built at a depth of 27 metres, and will have a length of 220 metres.^[3]

The station will feature artwork by local artist Elisa Jane Carmichael.^[4]

Construction

The station is built using a full cavern construction method.^[3] It was important to design lifts and elevators that can handle the expected surge capacity during large sports events at the nearby Gabba.^[3] Similar to Boggo Road railway station the ground is heavily fractured, but at Woolloongabba the cavern sits underneath a layer of that kind of rock. The cavern was excavated using roadheaders.^[3]

During construction a toothpaste box, a perfume bottle and bottles that once contained alcohol as well as other food items were found.^[5] Animal bones, including pig, sheep goats and cows and pieces of leather from shoes, shoe soles, leather belts and off cuts were also discovered.^[6]

The station served as the main support site for the construction project.^[7] It was centrally located and had adequate space for materials that created handling and logistical support efficiencies.^[7] The site handled the majority of spoil handling movements,^[7] having good access to the Pacific Motorway.

The first of several escalators were installed by September 2023, marking the move to the mechanical and electrical fit out phase of construction.^[8] A total of 24 escalators will be installed.^[8]

See also

• Rail transport in South East Queensland

References

1. Woolloongabba Station Archived 21 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine Cross River Rail
2. Moore, Tony (1 April 2023). "Bailey defends $960 million Cross River Rail cost blowout, delays". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 13 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
3. Claire Smith (6 October 2021). "Future of Tunnelling: Using caverns to minimise tunnelling disruption in Brisbane". EMAP Publishing. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
4. Hurst, Pippa (4 July 2024). "Art amplifies Indigenous cultural heritage at Australia's newest rail stations". Australian Design Review. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
5. George Roberts (3 November 2019). "Archaeologists find Queen Victoria-inspired perfume under future Woolloongabba Cross River Rail station". ABC News. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
6. Digging Deeper: The Lifecycle of a Leather Shoe. Cross River Rail. 2 September 2021. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
7. "Cross River Rail Business Case August 2017" (PDF). Government of Queensland. p. 108. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
8. Cook, Kody (11 September 2023). "Cross River Rail underground stations reach milestone". Infrastructure Magazine. Retrieved 13 September 2023.