Brookfield, BG&E win $249m busport tender

Brookfield Multiplex and BG&E have been selected to build a new $249 million underground bus station as part of the Perth City Link project.

Acting Transport Minister Mike Nahan today announced the City Busport Alliance, comprising Brookfield and BG&E, had been given the nod for the major tender ahead of the other shortlisted consortium, Translink Alliance, made up of John Holland and Aurecon.

The works will include demolition of the ageing Wellington Street Bus Station next year to enable the construction of a new state-of-the-art underground station, allowing an uninterrupted street level connection between Wellington Street and Roe Street.

The new station is expected to attract about 12,000 commuters a day when it opens in mid-2016.

"This project is fundamentally transforming our capital - the Wellington Street Bus Station opened in 1973 and will be the last established building on the Perth City Link site to be demolished," Mr Nahan said.

"When the 40-year-old structure comes down early next year and work starts on the underground bus station, the people of Perth will have an unrestricted view from one side of the site to the other for the first time in decades."

Construction of a temporary bus station for passengers is under way on the Roe Street side of the site, with a second temporary station to be built on Wellington Street.

The City of Perth is contributing $12 million towards the new bus station, with the state government providing the rest of the funding.

A major component of the $609 million City Link project was completed earlier this year with the sinking of a section of the Perth-to-Fremantle rail line.

The pedestrian underpass connecting Perth and Perth Underground stations will be completed in mid-2014 under the final phase of the rail project.

The above-ground component of the project is expected to be home to 1,650 new dwellings and 244,000 square metres of new retail and commercial space.