Inland rail dream running low on steam

THE DREAM of building an inland railway between Melbourne and Brisbane could remain just that, reports say.

THE DREAM of building an inland railway between Melbourne and Brisbane could remain just that, reports say.

Last week Federal Government-owned corporation Australian Rail Track Corporation opened a tender for the proposed $12 billion project.

Current plans for the track have it coming through the Darling Downs and the outskirts of Toowoomba on the way to Brisbane.

But reports say Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss is not fully behind the project and that the tender is just "window dressing" for a project that government officials think will never be built.

One of the main problems, according to some, is that the government body behind the project will need taxpayer money to build the project, despite private company National Trunk Rail saying it would foot the bill.

There is a huge appetite in the Toowoomba region for the project to go ahead.

Mayor Paul Antonio has called inland rail the missing link in a trifecta of infrastructure that will also include air and road transport.

InterlinkSQ is partly relying on the project for its $235 million rail transfer station being built in the Toowoomba Enterprise Hub.

Only time will tell if the project is really on the cards, will take a generation to become a reality like the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing or is only a pipe-dream.

Originally published as Inland rail dream running low on steam