Independent Australian law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth has advised the successful bidder on a public-private partnership to deliver a key part of Brisbane's AUD5.4 billion (about $3.7 billion) Cross River Rail Project.

The Pulse consortium – including Pacific Partnerships, Ghella, BAM and Dutch Infrastructure Fund – won the contract to deliver the tunnels, stations and development portion of the project. The Queensland government has not publicly revealed the values of the different elements of the project.

Corrs also advised the successful design and construction (D&C) joint venture (JV) comprising CPB Contractors, Ghella, BAM and UGL Engineering. Corrs was mandated to act for the Pulse Consortium and the D&C JV across all aspects of the project including project contracts, environmental due diligence debt, and equity financing and corporate structure.

The Corrs team for the Pulse consortium, led by partners David Warren, Brad Robinson, Andrew Chew and Peter Schenk, and the Corrs team advising the D&C JV, led by partner Airlie Fox, drew on their "deep experience" in major rail and tunnel projects to provide unique perspectives on risk allocation and mitigation, commercial and legal issues and considerations, Corrs said in a statement.

"Corrs is proud to work with the Pulse Consortium and achieve financial close, the first of many milestones in the delivery of the Cross River Rail Tunnels, Stations and Development Project," Warren said. "This is a significant piece of infrastructure for the state of Queensland and a wonderful achievement for the Pulse Consortium."

The Cross River Rail Project will enable the additional rail network capacity required to operate higher-frequency public transport that connects with other services and supports other network growth projects in Brisbane.