Australia's senior engineering body – Engineers Australia - says the Queensland Government must release the complete findings from a second inquiry into the controversy-ridden $1.1 billion Petrie to Kippa Ring rail line.
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The second inquiry reporting into May 2016's "potentially disastrous" train signalling errors is still "confidential" four months after the rail line opened in October 2016.
The signalling flaw between the signalling system on the new Moreton Bay Rail Link and the rest of the Citytrain network meant trains on the new Moreton Bay Rail Link could have collided with other Citytrain services when it opened in August 2016.
The rail signalling technology was chosen against Queensland Rail's 2014 advice.
After the potentially dangerous situation was revealed in May 2016, the opening of the Moreton Bay Rail Line was delayed for months.
Engineers Australia's Queensland infrastructure spokesman, Chris Warnock worked at Queensland Rail for 30 years and was Citytrain's manager from 1994 until 2000.
Mr Warnock said the report must be released so the industry can "take on any lessons from an engineering and professional perspective."
"The problem that we have is that in many different areas they say we have commissioned an inquiry and we never hear anything," Mr Warnock said.
The Moreton Bay Rail Link is the first rail project in Queensland's history where Queensland Rail was not involved in the design or management of the new rail line.
Thiess won the contact on August 1, 2013 to deliver the project for $1.1 billion.
On May 30, 2016 Mr Hinchliffe ordered an immediate investigation into why the train signalling software on the new Moreton Bay Rail Link "did not talk" to the train signalling software on the Citytrain network.
Sydney Metro West rail analyst Robin Smith was announced on June 9 2016 as the investigator by Mr Hinchliffe and a report should have been finalised and made public by July 2016.
No report has ever been issued, although eight safety recommendations were incorporated before the Moreton Bay Rail Link opened on October 3, 2016.
A reply from Translink did not fully answer questions asked by Fairfax Media.
"The remaining recommendations were not critical to the commissioning of the signalling system, and were to be actioned after the line opened," the statement says.
"These outstanding actions involved commercial negotiations with the contractor (Thiess), the details of which are confidential.
"The report is due to be released once discussions with the contractor are finalised."
The response gave no indication of any financial penalty to be paid by Thiess for the rail delay, or any indication when the report is due.
Mr Warnock said the report should explain why the signalling technology was chosen.
"It is true that whenever a new branchline, or a major deviation, is commissioned with a different signalling system the signalling system is mostly state of the art technology for that point in time," he said.
"The issue for the operation is not whether the signalling system is any good.
"The question is whether the signalling system interfaces with the existing signalling system.
"And it is for that reason that historically - on new railway sections - the signalling system and the traction systems - and sometimes the communications systems - are normally done by the operating railway, not by an external contractors.
"But Moreton Bay Rail Link was the first project in Queensland's history where the project was delivered by the Department of Transport and Main Roads and not by Queensland Rail."
The decision to exclude Queensland Rail from the project was announced on July 11, 2012 by former LNP transport minister Scott Emerson in a bid to reduce costs.
"By bringing the project under one agency I am looking for better more innovation and savings for the funding partners and the people of Queensland," Mr Emerson said.
Queensland Rail was asked in April 2014 for advice on which signalling system should be introduced onto the new Moreton Bay Rail Link and recommended against the system which was adopted because it was "significantly cheaper".
The Department of Transport and Main Roads adopted Ansaldo's MacroLink system for the Moreton Bay Rail Link, over the same company's Microlink system.
Queensland Rail recommended against it.
"(It) rated Ansaldo's MAcroLok system lower than the alternatives, due to it not being type approved and Queensland Rail's lack of confidence in the technology being able to be implemented within the timeframe required for delivery of the project," Queensland Rail told Fairfax Media in June 2016.
Queensland Rail again raised its concerns with the new Ansaldo MAcroLok system.
"But was advised that the system was significantly cheaper than the preferred technologies and that the contractor was confident they could overcome Queensland Rail's concerns," it said.
