Inland Rail Proposals To Be Assessed

April 16, 2020

Toowoomba Region Mayor Paul Antonio has welcomed a Federal Government announcement that pre-feasibility studies will be advanced for five projects linked to the Inland Rail project.

Mayor Antonio said it was a great achievement for southern Queensland proponents to receive approval for more than a quarter of the 16 projects along the Melbourne-to-Brisbane Inland Rail alignment.

“I’m pleased to see that the merit of the rail interface improvement projects has been acknowledged by the Federal Government. Each of the proposals has been ruled as eligible for the next stage of assessment,” Mayor Antonio said.

Toowoomba Regional Council, on behalf of the Darling Downs and South West Queensland Council of Mayors, submitted Expressions of Interest for three projects late last year.

The two other proposals were submitted by Goondiwindi Regional Council and InterLinkSQ and Seaway.

The successful proposals in southern Queensland include:

Potential upgrade and re-opening of existing rail lines – To upgrade and re-open the existing West Moreton Rail System and the South West Rail System to allow these routes to accommodate the same loads as the Inland Rail

South Western Rail System – Additional connections to Inland Rail. To investigate additional rail connections to the existing South West Rail system. The proposal has the potential to improve rail connections to the Inland Rail to accommodate heavy agricultural, mining and bulk commodity loads from the west and to minimise the need for both road and rail freight loads through Toowoomba

Rail Provisioning Centre (potential maintenance facility) – This proposal would see the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) build a rail provisioning/maintenance centre for Inland Rail operations at strategic locations in the Toowoomba Region

Goondiwindi Regional Council – To develop a Goondiwindi to Inland Rail corridor connection through upgrading the current South Western Rail line beside the Queensland and New South Wales border from Kurumbul to Thallon. The proposal has the potential to allow better connectivity to Inland Rail

InterLinkSQ and Seaway – To develop the South West Intermodal Project. The proposal has the potential to provide a cost-effective and efficient service offering through the provision of a ‘hub and spoke’ logistics network. This would include the construction of a new rail siding and a primary regional aggregation and distribution centre (hub) in Toowoomba

Mayor Antonio said the announcement vindicated three years of research and advocacy by his DDSWQ colleagues and their communities across the Bulloo, Quilpie, Paroo, Murweh, Balonne, Maranoa, Goondiwindi, Western Downs, Southern Downs and Toowoomba local government areas.

“The projects now proceed to the second stage, which is a pre-feasibility study to be conducted by Ernst and Young on behalf of the Department,” Mayor Antonio said.

“The relevant State authorities, the Department of Transport and Main Roads and Queensland Rail, will be invited to join the process since the first two proposals clearly involve the Queensland Rail freight network.”

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