Indian energy giant Adani said the Palaszczuk government should introduce tougher penalties to stop activists from blocking its coal trains moving the first cargo from its $2 billion Carmichael mine in central Queensland.

The company has started to test locomotives carrying coal on its 206-kilometre rail line from Carmichael to its Abbot Point coal terminal, near Bowen, and the first official shipment is expected to leave the port within weeks.