{"id":371920,"date":"2026-05-06T15:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T05:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=371920"},"modified":"2026-05-06T15:58:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T05:58:25","slug":"inland-rail-decision-devastating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/05\/06\/inland-rail-decision-devastating\/","title":{"rendered":"Inland Rail Decision ‘Devastating’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The northern section of the Inland Rail section which has been cancelled. INSET: The 2016 route which would have linked the project to Brisbane via the Toowoomba region (Maps: ARTC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 6, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The dream of an Inland Rail link from Queensland to Melbourne has been shattered by the Federal Government announcement this week that the project will stop at Parkes.<\/p>\n

The 1600km project has been championed for decades as a key freight link by groups such as the Toowoomba Regional Council, the Darling Downs and South West Queensland Council of Mayors and Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise (TSBE).<\/p>\n

It was promoted as a major boost to agriculture and interstate trade, however high-speed passenger services had also been mooted at times.<\/p>\n

In 2013, then-Deputy Prime Minister and Member for Wide Bay Warren Truss committed the Federal Government to fast-tracking delivery of a project to link Melbourne to Brisbane.<\/p>\n

In 2016, an alignment was announced that would have meant a journey time of less than 24 hours.<\/p>\n

But over the years, the project has stalled with disputes over routes and cost blowouts.<\/p>\n

A 2023 review assessed the project cost at $31.4 billion with an estimated completion date in 2031.<\/p>\n

More recent estimates by the Federal Government put the total cost at more than $45 billion.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Deputy Premier Jarrod Blejie described the decision to abandon the link to Queensland as short-sighted.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking to metropolitan media, Mr Blejie said the move was “beyond disappointing”.<\/p>\n

“Inland Rail would have taken hundreds of thousands of trucks off the road, it would have backed our agriculture and horticultural sector,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Toowoomba Mayor Cr Geoff McDonald<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toowoomba Mayor Geoff McDonald also expressed deep disappointment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mayor McDonald said Inland Rail had long been positioned as a nation\u2011building project capable of transforming freight movement, strengthening supply chains and delivering long\u2011term economic benefits across regional Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunities across Queensland were told Inland Rail would deliver faster, more efficient freight connections, reduce pressure on our road networks and support industry growth,\u201d Mayor McDonald said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the Toowoomba Region, it represented a once\u2011in\u2011a\u2011generation chance to leverage our strategic location as a major logistics hub.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most significant benefits of Inland Rail was its potential to remove up to 6000 heavy vehicles a day from Queensland roads which would have eased congestion, improved safety and reduced wear and tear on key freight routes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat reduction alone would have delivered enormous value to regional communities. It would have meant safer roads for families, lower maintenance costs for taxpayers and a more efficient freight system for producers and operators.\u201d<\/p>\n

Member for Maranoa David Littleproud said the decision was\u00a0 “devastating but not surprising”.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He blamed “a fundamentally flawed corridor decision” made by his former colleague, then-Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, to route the project through “flood-prone land that was always going to require hundreds of millions of dollars in additional engineering”.<\/p>\n

“That decision condemned the project to 10 years of revised Environmental Impact Statements, planning setbacks and ultimately a cost blowout to $45 billion, more than three times the original budget. Every dollar wasted on re-routing, re-engineering, and re-approvals over the past decade can be traced back to that original error,” Mr Littleproud said.<\/p>\n

Rail freight company Aurizon welcomed the news that $1.75 billion which could have been spent on the Inland Rail project would now be used to improve other parts of the freight rail network.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis new investment of $1.75 billion, combined with a previously announced commitment of $1.04 billion, will support targeted investment in the Australian Rail Track Corporation network, which traverses much of the nation, east to west and north to south,” Aurizon managing director and CEO Andrew Harding said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has indicated the money will be spent on initiatives such as resilience upgrades in high-risk flood-prone areas of the network as well as on track renewal works, passing loop extensions and improved signalling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Harding said the Inland Rail decision was “prudent and fiscally responsible”.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrioritising improving the existing network makes sense and will deliver more immediate benefits to the national economy,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Of course, we would like to see Inland Rail completed at some stage, but while there still remains uncertainty around the cost and elements of the project, the focus for now on preserving the corridor north of Parkes is a sensible decision that will help facilitate construction in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Federal Government now expects the upgraded link from near Melbourne to Parkes to be completed by late next year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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