INLAND RAIL

FINALLY it seems that common sense just might prevail.

The Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has stated that the Federal Government has commissioned a $10m business case of the proposed Gladstone leg instead of Brisbane which has been endorsed by both Labor and the Coalition.

The costs blowouts incurred by a Toowoomba to the Port of Brisbane route are escalating to the extent where other options would now need to be identified.

It makes perfect sense both financially and logistically for the line to proceed from Gowrie Junction to Kingaroy link into the former track to Maryborough then onto the main line to Gladstone where a new container facility would ensure faster turnaround times and operating costs savings rather than travelling to Brisbane.

The food producing farmlands of the Lockyer Valley would not be impacted by resumptions.

Mike Flanigan, Southbrook