Why Jack Dempsey, Glen Hartwig want $3.4b inland rail to come to Wide Bay

A multibillion-dollar plan to link Toowoomba and Gladstone is a great idea ‘on the wrong track’ and Gympie, the Fraser Coast and Bundaberg should be in the mix, Wide Bay mayors have said.

The proposed inland rail line between Toowoomba and Gladstone would be better served connecting to Gympie , Maryborough and Bundaberg, mayors across the region said.

A plan to link Toowoomba with Gladstone by way of a $3.4 billion inland rail line through the Surat Basin would be better served by bringing it to Gympie first, Wide Bay mayors have said.

Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey wants governments to take a close look at hooking the line up near the Gympie North Station as part of their investigations into the project.

The Federal Government has committed $10 million to exploring the feasibility of extending the line from Toowoomba to south of the Great Barrier Reef.

Mr Dempsey said the extension was a good idea but the plan “might be on the wrong track”.

Taking the line through Gympie would open access to three ports instead of just one.

Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey said bringing the Inland Rail line through the Wide Bay would connect it to three ports instead of one.

“This option would avoid the need for 215km of new track from the Surat Basin to Gladstone, while enabling the Port of Bundaberg to service the emerging Wide Bay Minerals Province,” Mr Dempsey said.

“The future prosperity of the Wide Bay Burnett depends on transport and logistics infrastructure that can link the region’s geographically dispersed agricultural and commodity bases with consumer markets.”

He said he did not want Bundaberg to become a coal port but “the broader mining sector is expected to significantly drive trade opportunities across the Wide Bay Burnett over the next two decades”.

It would make Bundaberg’s roads safer than they would otherwise be with bulk goods being hauled in by truck.

Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig backed Mr Dempsey’s pitch.

“The proposal will deliver a variety of benefits to our community, including improving Gympie’s access to rail transport options, providing future industrial growth opportunities and delivering a new, cleaner method of transporting goods that will reduce our region’s greenhouse gas emissions,” Mr Hartwig said.

Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig said bringing the line through Gympie would drive industry growth and help cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Connecting Toowoomba and Gladstone by way of the coast was originally considered in a pre feasibility study, but only after first linking to Brisbane.

The report found going the coastal route through Brisbane would pass through 77 towns and impact almost 10,000 blocks of land.

A pre feasibility link into a coastal connection took the route originally explored passing through Brisbane before heading north. Mr Dempsey said a link from Toowoomba to Gympie’s North Coast connection should be explored too.

This meant there was “potential for large sections of the community to be affected by changes including noise and vibration, visual amenity, traffic connectivity and impacts at level crossings, and local afflux”.

“The coastal route also impacts 13 protected areas under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, including six national parks and crosses 554 watercourses.”

In comparison going via the Surat Basin would only impact about 1700 parcels of land and no national parks.

A business case for the rail line said such an extension would mean 10,000 more jobs for the regional Queensland and open up more than $15 billion in additional investment.