Gympie rail plan touted
MAYORS across the Wide Bay region have called on governments to take a look at extending the $15 billion Inland Rail project north to link Toowoomba with Gladstone through the Surat Basin.
Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey wants governments to take a close look at hooking the line up near the Gympie North Station via a $3.4 billion rail line.
The Federal Government has committed $10 million to exploring the feasibility of extending the line from Toowoomba to south of the Great Barrier Reef.
Mr Dempsey said taking the rail route through Gympie would allow greater access to more ports.
A PLAN to link Toowoomba with Gladstone by way of a $3.4 billion inland rail line through the Surat Basin would be better served by bringing it to Gympie first, Wide Bay mayors have said.
Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey wants governments to take a close look at hooking the line up near the Gympie North Station as part of their investigations into the project.
The Federal Government has committed $10 million to exploring the feasibility of extending the line from Toowoomba to south of the Great Barrier Reef.
Mr Dempsey said the extension was a good idea but the plan “might be on the wrong track”.
Taking the line through Gympie would open access to three ports instead of just one.
“This option would avoid the need for 215km of new track from the Surat Basin to Gladstone, while enabling the Port of Bundaberg to service the emerging Wide Bay minerals province,” Mr Dempsey said.
“The future prosperity of the Wide Bay Burnett depends on transport and logistics infrastructure that can link the region’s geographically dispersed agricultural and commodity bases with consumer markets.”
He said he did not want Bundaberg to become a coal port but “the broader mining sector is expected to significantly drive trade opportunities across the Wide Bay Burnett over the next two decades”.
Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig backed Mr Dempsey’s pitch.
“The proposal will deliver a variety of benefits to our community, including improving Gympie’s access to rail transport options, providing future industrial growth opportunities and delivering a new, cleaner method of transporting goods that will reduce our region’s greenhouse gas emissions,” Mr Hartwig said.
Connecting Toowoomba and Gladstone by way of the coast was originally considered in a pre feasibility study, but only after first linking to Brisbane.
The report found going the coastal route through Brisbane would pass through 77 towns and impact almost 10,000 blocks of land.
A pre feasibility link into a coastal connection took the route originally explored passing through Brisbane before heading north.
Mr Dempsey said a link from Toowoomba to Gympie’s North Coast connection should be explored too.