Article: Border railway one step closer with ministerial recognition

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Border railway one step closer with ministerial recognition

Border railway one step closer with ministerial recognition

Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese has granted Major Project Facilitation (MPF) status to the Border Railway Project, to be built between Moree and Toowoomba.

The Border Railway proposal is to construct a 300 km missing link to connect the NSW and QLD rail systems via the inland, costing over $900m.

This project will provide a link between Moree [NSW] and Toowoomba [QLD] via the inland to allow for a standard-gauge corridor linking the two states.

"In recognition of its potential as a nationally significant piece of infrastructure, I've granted Major Project Facilitation (MPF) status to the Border Railway Project being advanced by the Australian Transport and Energy Corridor Ltd (ATEC)," Mr Albanese said.

"The proposed $1 billion project would lay some 340 kilometres of standard-gauge rail track, linking Moree to a newly constructed intermodal facility in Charlton, near Toowoomba, and servicing the coal projects in the region.

"In the longer term, the proponents of this project envisage extending the line beyond Toowoomba all the way to the rapidly growing industrial city of Gladstone via the Surat Basin," he said.

If given the final go ahead, this project would deliver significant benefits to regional communities across northern New South Wales and inland Queensland as well as to the broader national economy, including:

    * More efficient transport connections;
    * Improved access for local coal miners and agricultural producers to domestic and overseas markets;
    * Less congestion on the existing coastal rail line; and
    * Additional major freight terminals in regional Australia.

ATEC is expecting to start construction on the Border Railway Project in late 2012, with a completion date of late 2014.