An alliance led by the Australian group Leighton Contractors has won a $282m contract for a 1.05km section of the Eastern Busway in the Australian State of Queensland.

Once complete, the Busway section will cut down travel time through the congested section of Old Cleveland Road by eight minutes.

Other members of the alliance include the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, SKM and AECOM.

The section will also reduce travel duration from Coorparoo to Brisbane City by nearly 1.5 hours per week.

The section is expected to cater to 7,000 passengers during the morning peak hours by the year 2016.

The team will design and construct the section extending from Buranda to Main Avenue.

New Busway stations, tunnels and bridge structures will also be built at Stones Corner and Langlands Park.

The Eastern Subway is part of the state’s $465.8m project to extend the Busway network from the South East Busway at Buranda to Main Avenue at Coorparoo.