LNP super-train plan labelled ‘fanciful’

AN LNP plan to investigate super fast train travel between Bundaberg and the Gold Coast has been labelled “fanciful” by the Government even as industry heads praise it as future planning.

LNP leader Tim Nicholls, who has pledged $2.5 million for a business case and asked the Commonwealth for a contribution, yesterday defended the plan as forwardthinking.

He said a Very Fast Train network would create jobs and allow commuters living in regional areas to get to work in the Brisbane CBD in a much shorter time.

“That’s why it’s important that a government that listens, that plans and acts, carries out investigations to see if that is in fact a feasible idea, to see if that is something that will work in southeast Queensland,” he said.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said Cross River Rail (CRR) was future-planning and lampooned the “study into a very fanciful, highspeed train system for the southeast corner”.

But Infrastructure Association of Queensland chief executive Steve Abson welcomed the LNP’s commitment.

“This sort of study is always valuable in planning and preserving corridors for future development,’’ he said.