FULL STEAM AHEAD
Toowoomba gets its share of $8.4 billion Inland Rail project
BUILDING the 198km leg of the Inland Rail connecting Toowoomba to NSW will bring 800 jobs in a major economic boost for the region.
The route will cross the Condamine floodplain just north of Millmerran, before connecting to Pittsworth and on to the Toowoomba Enterprise Hub.
The controversial decision triggered a swag of reactions from impacted stakeholders.
THE Inland Rail build is expected to bring 800 jobs to the Darling Downs and more than $2 billion in its lifespan.
But the decision on the NSW to Toowoomba link has been engulfed in speculation the Federal Government was influenced by private enterprise.
It comes as an ABC report yesterday revealed that Toowoomba Regional Council Mayor Paul Antonio paid $4900 for another rail option to be considered, which altered the base case from 2010 to run closer to a quarry he owns in Millmerran.
It was not the route chosen by Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Darren Chester.
The quarry reportedly will supply basalt during the rail line build.
Cr Antonio was quoted on the ABC as saying: “Regardless of where the rail line goes over the next 100 years, that basalt on my hill will be used. It will benefit either myself or whoever owns that property.”
He did not return The Chronicle’s calls yesterday.
Groom MP John McVeigh said he was confident the final decision was above board.
“There are concerns with some interests in that industrial area either being challenged in terms of competition for their own activities, and whether or not some of them had undue influence over the final decision-making process,” he said.
“It includes the area in which the Gardner family is developing their activities, the Pulse Data centre, for example, and significant activities between Cecil Plains Rd and the Warrego Hwy, and includes the broader area north of the Warrego Hwy down into InterlinkSQ’s development which is under way now.
“I think it is erroneous to suggest that that route is just about one big development in the broader industrial hub, ie the airport, because it’s a massive area and there will be tremendous developments in the decades to come.
“Economically we will see on the Darling Downs in the order of about 800 jobs involved in the construction in the task itself, so that is quite significant.”
Australian Rail Track Corporation CEO Jack Fullerton said the Darling Downs region “stands to gain more than $2.2 billion in economic activity” from the project.