No double-stacked freight trains on Inland Rail through Acacia Ridge: Independent report endorsed

Thousands of southside residents are celebrating one of the biggest community wins in a decade after the government has agreed not to allow double-stacked freight trains to run past their back doors.

Double-stacked trains will not run through Acacia Ridge after the government gave initial backing to an independent report and its 19 recommendations.

Thousands of southside residents are celebrating one of the biggest community wins in a decade after a report released today showed double-stacked freight trains will not run past their back doors as part of an inland rail freight line.

The news was released as part of a federal government response to an independent review of Inland Rail by Dr Kerry Schott, who tabled her report with 19 recommendations in January.

One of those recommendations was that the double-stacked freight trains would not go to Acacia Ridge and instead would terminate at a massive intermodal terminal to be built at Ebenezer in Ipswich.

The government endorsement will mean that no intermodal truck and rail terminal will be built at Acacia Ridge, where residents feared thousands of trucks trundling through their suburb to an Inland Rail freight terminal.

Dr Schott’s report also found that the costs would blow out to more than three times the predicted cost to $31.4billion.

Stan and Suz Corbett have been campaigning against the INland Rail for many years. Thursday, March 19, 2020. The Hillcrest/Forestdale corridor. (AAP Image/Renae Droop)

Double-stacked freight trains will run on the Inland Rail line from Melbourne to Ebenezer but only single-stacked freight trains will run from Kagaru to Acacia Ridge.

The report endorsed the route chosen by the Australian Rail Track Corporation, despite many protests from farmers on the Darling Downs.

It also focused on poor engineering standards and inadequate destination capabilities.

Under the agreed route, Inland Rail freight trains will run from the New South Wales border to Gowrie and then down the Toowoomba Range through a 6.3km tunnel to Ebenezer.

Double-stacked trains will terminate at Ebenezer where a freight and storage hub will be built to allow containers to be loaded on to single-stacked trains or trucks.

Single-stacked trains will then run through a series of smaller tunnels to Kagaru.

Plans for the first stage of the inland rail freight line into Queensland were sent back to the drawing board after the state government called for a second, more thorough, environmental assessment in January last year.

Stan and Suz Corbett have been campaigning against the Inland Rail for many years. Image/Renae Droop

Forestdale residents Suz and Stan Corbett said it was a win for residents who had campaigned to keep the double-stacked diesel trains out of their suburbs.

“There are still unanswered questions in these reports but we feel that this is the first step,” Ms Corbett said.

“This has been a long-running battle for 50,000 residents. At no time did we ever push to remove or relocate the line.

“Our goal was always to stop the double-stacked freight trains.”

Rankin MP Jim Chalmers said the government had listened to the community’s concerns and had decided to end Inland Rail at Acacia Ridge.

“This means we’re putting an end to the LNP’s plans for more trucks on local roads, double stacked trains causing daily noise pollution in our suburbs, and a giant cargo terminal at Acacia Ridge impacting our community,” he said.

“For the best part of a decade, the Liberals and Nationals ignored locals who warned against plans to end Inland Rail at Acacia Ridge.

“We’ll still build Inland Rail, but we’ll build it better and we’ll do it without impacting our community in the southern suburbs of Brisbane and Logan.”

Logan Mayor Darren Power also welcomed the announcement.

“This really was a ‘David and Goliath’ clash but it shows you should never give up on something that is worth fighting for.”

Dr Schott’s Inland Rail review made 19 separate recommendations as it forecast the budget for the project to double to $31 billion with completion not expected this decade.

Mr Power said it was a small and long overdue win after the government committed to the independent review of the project last year.

It was projected that more than 40,000 people in Logan would live within a kilometre of the proposed Inland Rail corridor in the next 20 years.

As many as 45 trains each day, some up to 1800 metres, were expected to use the tracks, creating noise, vibration and air quality issues for nearby residents.