ACCIONA, within the CoastalTraX consortium, has been awarded the contract to design and build one of the two major first phases of The Wave railway in Queensland (Australia), which forms part of the infrastructure development plan for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The project involves the construction of 19 kilometers of double track, which will significantly improve connections between the towns of Beerwah and Caloundra, while boosting residential development on the Sunshine Coast, one of the fastest-growing regions in south-east Queensland.

ACCIONA and its partners Georgiou, Aurecon and Mott MacDonald, along with specialist rail subcontractor DT Infrastructure, will also build related infrastructure such as park-and-ride facilities, passenger pick-up areas, bicycle parking, bus stops, and paths and connections to the surrounding local network. They will also build a new park called “Aura Central”, next to Bells Creek (Aura) station, which will feature sports facilities and recreational areas. Finally, the consortium will upgrade a number of existing local roads in the surrounding areas.

Pre-construction work, such as geotechnical and topographical surveys, will be carried out this year, while the start of the main works is estimated for mid-2027.

The Sunshine Coast is currently one of the fastest-growing regions in south-east Queensland and the largest urban area in Australia without a direct rail link to the nearest capital city. This railway will improve local and regional connectivity, providing a reliable and efficient alternative to car travel, which can cut travel times by more than 45 minutes during rush hours.

Phases 1 and 2 of The Wave railway will run from Beerwah to Birtinya, passing through Bells Creek (Aura), Caloundra and Aroona.

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ACCIONA, as part of the ActivUs consortium, was awarded the contract at the end of last year to design and build the main package of the Logan and Gold Coast (LGC) Faster Rail project, valued at €3.4 billion (AUD 5.75 billion) in total, which will improve the efficiency and frequency of public transport between Brisbane and its coastal area.

Last year it was also selected by the government of Western Australia to construct a new electricity transmission line, the Clean Energy Link – North, an AU$342 million (€192 million) project to supply customers with 400MW of existing wind power and an additional 1GW of new renewable energy.

ACCIONA, together with Genus, had already been selected by Transgrid, the public grid operator for New South Wales, to build the eastern section of the HumeLink power transmission line. The AU$1.4 billion (€850 million) project is one of the largest energy infrastructure projects in the country.

ACCIONA established itself in Australia in 2002 and has become one of the country’s leading infrastructure companies.

In 2009, it was awarded one of the country’s flagship projects, the Adelaide desalination plant, with a capacity of 300,000 m³ per day to serve two million people. It was the first one of its kind in Australia, incorporating advanced pre-treatment to improve energy efficiency and increase the recovery of treated water for human consumption.

In 2011, ACCIONA won a contract in Western Australia for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the Mundaring drinking water treatment plant, which supplies water to Goldfields, one of the state’s nine regions.

More recently, ACCIONA was selected to design, build, operate and maintain the Alkimos (ASDP) desalination plant in Perth for ten years, as part of a comprehensive infrastructure program valued at AU$2.8 billion (€1.72 billion) to ensure drinking water supply for millions of people in the region.

Another major contract in the country was the construction of tunnels for the AU$3.6 billion (€2.2 billion) Suburban Rail Loop East project in Melbourne, which will transform Melbourne’s public transport network, helping to manage the city’s growth and reduce road traffic.

The company is also building the Western Harbour Tunnel project, valued at AU$4.24 billion (€2.75 billion), the largest construction contract in ACCIONA’s history.

In addition, ACCIONA constructed the runway at the new Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport; the works on the central section of Sydney’s Metro West, the new underground railway running through much of the country’s largest city; and continues to play a major role in the removal of railway level crossings in Melbourne.