Queensland Cross River Rail Accessibility Advisory role – Fairfield to Salisbury Station Upgrades

A new 10.2 kilometre rail line from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills, which includes 5.9 kilometres of twin tunnels under the Brisbane River and the CBD

The Cross River Rail project encompasses four new inner city underground stations, upgrades to eight existing stations and three new stations on the Gold Coast line. Six existing stations on Brisbane’s southside- Salisbury, Rocklea, Moorooka, Yeerongpilly, Yeronga, and Fairfield – will be rebuilt as part of the Cross River Rail project.

This article will focus on the first station to be upgraded and opened, Yeronga Station.

Architecture & Access has been engaged by the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority (CRRDA) in the Accessibility Advisory role since 2020. We have been working closely with the Delivery Authority’s Customer and Accessibility engagement team to ensure compliance with the Disability Standard for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (DSAPT) but more importantly, to ensure the best outcomes are achieved for people with a disability, through the preparation of the Accessibility Standards Best Practice Guidelines, and ongoing consultation with the CRRDA Accessibility Working Group (ARG).

Yeronga Station was the first station to be upgraded and opened. The upgrade includes:

1. A new overpass and passenger lifts with enhanced messaging and hearing augmentation,
2. A lift linking platforms and, for the first time at this station, access across busy Fairfield Road, with a lift installed on the applicable side.
3. Accessible parking bays,
4. New kiss’n’ride spaces,
5. Braille and tactile maps
6. Platform improvements including raising the platforms to bridge the vertical gap and the installation of “gap fillers” to bridge the horizontal gap between platform and train interface. This will greatly improve this experience for all users when boarding and disembarking the train.

A great deal of research has gone into solving the platform gap interface. Platform gap fingers or fillers, see link below, are just one of the solutions for the horizontal gap issue. As part of the engagement process on this project, ARG members were involved in testing the proposed platform gap fillers to ensure safe crossing and effectiveness of use.

Yeronga has been first station to explore the new features with the ARG which has informed continued improvement activities on the remaining existing station upgrades. Similar features will be rolled to the remaining stations.