Inland Rail

IT HAS been an interesting reading this last week of developments in the design and construction of the Inland Rail.

The just announced appointment of a company to construct the Gowrie – Border section brings to a close the long discussion on the best overall route. The fact is that, except for a couple of very minor alterations, it will closely follow the original design.

This will be a matter of pride for Inland Rail as the preferred location was primarily based on low cost of construction and operation.

The location and design of the Condamine River crossing was finally sealed by the panel of world renowned experts on flooding who accepted the location apparently without qualification and accepted the design at the same time requesting that some minor details be checked.

These experts considered the effect of every anticipated meteorological event in a manner no one else would even consider. People who live close to the crossing should now accept that it will be built at this location and they should now talk to the Inland Rail people regarding any perceived problems they have experienced rather than try to reject the proposal outright.

The other development is the investigation of adding a rail line directly between Gowrie and Gladstone by Inland Rail rather than the ill fated and long touted proposal of replacing the line to Gladstone rather than to Brisbane.

One needs a lot of information even to guess what the result will be but, if successful, it could mean a lot for Toowoomba.

PETER SHERIDAN, Kearneys Spring