Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk will bypass the state government and directly lobby Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to provide federal funding for the city's abandoned Bus and Train Tunnel.
The $5 billion BaT Tunnel was the Newman government's plan for a piece of integrated public transport infrastructure that would have provided another river crossing for both rail and bus services in a single tunnel.
![Brisbane's planned BaT Tunnel.](/web/20170428201446im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/w/5/q/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gk71zs.png/1444626795231.jpg)
Upon its election earlier this year, the Palaszczuk Labor government scrapped the BaT tunnel in favour of its own public transport project, Cross River Rail.
Cr Quirk said he was pleased to see Mr Turnbull's $95 million commitment to the Gold Coast's light rail system and would lobby the Prime Minister to get the abandoned BaT Tunnel back on the agenda.
![Lord Mayor Graham Quirk will lobby Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for BaT Tunnel funding.](/web/20170428201446im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/7/n/f/k/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gk71zs.png/1444626795231.jpg)
"I'll be making the point that bus and train infrastructure is important and is done most efficiently, in terms of taxpayer dollars, be it state taxpayer dollars or federal taxpayer dollars, by a combined opportunity through a single tube tunnel," he said on Monday.
"That has always been my message, it will continue to be my message, because if Cross River Rail is done, it's still leaving half of the equation for public transport as an unmet need in this city."
Cr Quirk was due to meet with Mr Turnbull later this week as part of the annual Council of Capital City Lord Mayors meeting in Canberra.
It was unlikely, however, that specific city-based projects would be discussed during that meeting.
![Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced $94 million in funding for the Gold Coast light rail on Sunday.](/web/20170428201446im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/6/g/s/i/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gk71zs.png/1485515678326.jpg)
"My message is to whoever wants to listen to it," Cr Quirk said.
"(The BaT Tunnel) project is important to get back on the table because while Cross River Rail will give one part of equation, it will not solve the problems we have with 230 buses at the moment going through the cultural precinct in the peak hour each day.
"That's one bus every 15 seconds. There is need for work to be done in terms of bus infrastructure and that's got to be built into the state equation as well.
"To simply do Cross River Rail is to deny the fact that most people in this city catch buses rather than trains."
Comment has been sought from Deputy Premier and Infrastructure Minister Jackie Trad, who has been a long time critic of the BaT Tunnel.
"Nowhere in the world do they combine two different modes of public transport in the one tunnel, so I don't think we should be starting that here in Queensland," she said last month.
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