The Queensland government insists Cross River Rail is on schedule, despite the delayed announcement of the shortlist of consortiums to build the project.
The shortlist was due to be announced in May 2017 according to the initial business case, but Acting Premier Jackie Trad said it was delayed due to the high profile fight over funding for the project with the federal government.
"If this process had occurred in May last year it would have occurred before there was money for the project," Ms Trad told reporters.
The Liberal National Party has criticised the delay, with Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington accusing the government of wasting time.
"This is Labor's only major infrastructure project, and they need to get on and deliver it," Ms Frecklington told reporters in Bundaberg.
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"Cross River Rail, under their own documents, is 12 months late."
But Ms Trad said the LNP had thrown up roadblocks to the project, and it was hypocritical of them to now call for it to move forward.
"Let's be frank, if Deb Frecklington thinks a $5.4 billion project can be built in the space of a year then I think she needs to go back and refresh herself in how you actually make big construction projects happen," Ms Trad said.
The shortlist includes the Queensland government-owned Queensland Investment Corporation but Ms Trad said it won't get any special consideration, and the final selection will be based on merit.
The process to select the consortium to build Cross River Rail is expected to take between 12 and 18 months, with the successful tenderer then expected to take up to a further year to begin physical work on the project.
Some preparation work has already begun, most notably the demolition of the former state government GoPrint site at Wooloongabba as a marshalling site for the tunnelling work.
