Queensland section of the Border Rail Link

[mufreight]

More on the Inland Rail.

On the 9th August "Somebody" made the following post in which he questioned,
"what about a completely Greenfield Narrabri-Brisbane via Warwick"

Also on the same day "Colin W" noted that,
"I'm originally from Toowoomba, and know the Southern Downs Area quite well, one thing that continually surprises me is that the Inland Rail proposals going all the way back to the Via Recta have always proposed taking a direct path through some of the hardest terrain around.
The fact is that the easiest graded, most sensible route across the range has never been considered.  Proposal after proposal either wants to ascend the range in the area of Cunninghams Gap or Spicers Gap, or take a circuitous approach to the north via Toowoomba where the range is somewhat easier buy still a major obstacle.
Meanwhile, the existence of a relatively gentle approach to the main range about halfway between Toowoomba and Cunninghams Gap goes largely un-noticed.  The route I'm talking about would roughly follow Route 80, Gatton to Clifton road. (this is the old Murphys Creek road up the range which saw considerable use with heavy trucks and oversize loads crossing the range in the 1940/50 years)  Coming off the Main line just west of Gatton, I would propose to follow the approach route of the road via Winwill, Ma Ma Creek, Mt Whilestone, West Haldon, Hirstglen and Pilton."

This post was then followed by a further post by "Somebody".
"Cunninghams Gap is still shorter.  Would a tunnel through the range which appears to be quite steep, but short, make this route more viable than the route 80 option?"

To respond to these posts first let us make some comparisons.

All proposals follow basically the same alignments from North Star in New South Wales to Inglewood in Queensland, from that point the proposed routes differ.
Via Millmerran, Gowrie, Toowoomba and Ebenezer to join the existing standard gauge line near Kagaru.
Via Thane, bypassing Warwick to the north about halfway between Warwick and Hendon then to Meryvale and through the range in the vicinity of Cunninghams Gap to Boonah and joining the existing standard gauge line between Bromelton and Tamrookum.

In terms of distance the line via Cunninghams Gap would be some 85km shorter but apart from the two tunnels that would be required would require far less major infrastructure than the alternative route via Toowoomba.

It would seem that in an attempt to justify construction the line via Toowoomba the consultants claimed that to route the line via Warwick would require the construction of three spirals and some 24 km of viaduct.
In reality each of the three alternative options to descend the range each based upon 19th century engineering practice contained ONE spiral or partial spiral, not as claimed three spirals.
Using modern engineering practice a base line tunnel of some 13 to 14 km through the main range would provide a more direct and easier graded line with a maximum ruling gradient of approximately 120 to 1 as against a maximum grade of approximately 90 to 1 if the line were to be routed via Toowoomba.

As in the late 1800's (1884) it was proposed to construct a more direct line between Brisbane and Warwick via Spicers gap and Mt Edwards which using the construction technology of the time did not require any spirals and used minimal bridging and viaducts and very limited short sections of tunnel yet achieved an alignment with a maximum ruling grade of 1 in 39.

With modern tunneling equipment a rail tunnel of some 12 kilometers under Spicers Gap would see the line shortened further and a maximum grade of 1 in 100 or possibly less.

The inland line is supposedly to be constructed to cater for the increasing volumes of north south freight and to take this freight off the nations roads yet to suit seemingly vested interests it is proposed to construct a longer and slower line that will be more costly overall not only to construct but also to operate thus giving the road freight industry a further advantage in competition with rail.

The costs of constructing a long base line tunnel would be considerably lower than the additional 80 plus kilometers of line and the reconstruction of the existing narrow gauge lines from Helidon to Rosewood (double track, some 180 track kilometres) and new crossings of the Toowoomba range and Little Liverpool range which will involve the construction of an extensive length of tunnels possibly as much as 7 kilometres.

By comparison the route via Toowoomba will require the construction of some 165 km of new greenfield alignment, the realignment and reconstruction of some 383 km existing ng line to standard gauge standards while under traffic, a far more costly work than Greenfield construction.

This compared with the route via Warwick which would entail the Greenfield construction of 136 km of new standard gauge alignment and the realignment and reconstruction of only 202 km of existing ng alignment to standard gauge standards.

The route via Warwick would admittedly require in total some 14 km of tunnel as against some 7 to 8 km required via Toowoomba but this would be more than compensated for by the higher operating speeds and lower costs of operation as a result of better alignment, easier grades and shorter distance.

In comparison with the route suggested by Colin W via Murphys Creek the line via Warwick is again shorter, faster due to its better alignment and grades and less costly to construct.
One could easily come to the conclusion that vested interests are promoting the Toowoomba route as by the use of a base line tunnel and modern engineering practices no spirals or extensive viaducts are required to construct a shorter faster line that would cater for the operation of double stacked intermodal freight services and be time competitive with road freight.

By not routing the standard gauge inland rail link down the range from Toowoomba the inland line can cater for the operation of double stacked intermodal freight services thus leaving the way clear for the extension of electrification on the western line beyond Rosewood to Gatton and Toowoomba for the operation of passenger services once a new tunnel is constructed to cross the Little Liverpool Range between Grandchester and Laidley.

The short answer to the question posed by Somebody of "would a tunnel through the range which appears to be quite steep, but short, make this route more viable than the route 80 (Murphys Creek) option?  Unquestionably YES, and also less costly to construct and more importantly to operate.

[SteelPan]

I've always been and will always be a fan of the inland rail concept - its day must and will come.  But we are talking long-term --- unless the feds jump in at some stage to really push it all forward - maybe one day they will --- anyway, barring greater fed involvement, the Border Rail is, AT LEAST, ten years off.   Everald Compton who has been the "front gunner" for the Inland Rail over the last 10+yrs had a worthy vision, but no concept of delivery - I remember his gas powered trains that cross the continent in 24hrs etc.  The project should have just focused on sticking to fundamentals and promoting sustained, affordable Inland Development, Trucks off roads and the billions of dollars that would save etc...not pie in the sky stuff!