Mayors unite to push for Toowoomba passenger rail plan
TOOWOOMBA Mayor Paul Antonio and his Lockyer Valley counterpart say a business case into passenger rail from Brisbane to the Garden City needed to start “yesterday”.
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TOOWOOMBA Mayor Paul Antonio and his Lockyer Valley counterpart say a business case into passenger rail from Brisbane to the Garden City needed to start “yesterday”.
Both Cr Antonio and Lockyer Valley Mayor Tanya Milligan called for planning to begin on the project, after $15 million was allocated by the Federal Government in the 2018 budget.
“With the signing of the bilateral agreement at the end of November there should be no impediment and no further delays in work commencing on the business case for passenger rail to Toowoomba,” Cr Milligan said.
“Electric passenger rail from Sydney to the Blue Mountains occurred in the 1950s and opened up whole new economic opportunities for the region and it seems only reasonable for the same to occur in our region.
“In almost all other parts of southeast Queensland, people commute to work by train between cities and regions and right now it’s an opportunity denied to both the Lockyer Valley and Australia’s largest naturally-established inland city, Toowoomba.”
Cr Antonio said the economic opportunities and connections for the Toowoomba region were both significant and obvious.
“Toowoomba is the gateway to western and southern Queensland and is a major residential, business and tourism centre,” he said.
“The proposed 2032 Olympic Games in SEQ is expected to bring events, teams and visitors to the region and along with the Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport, we need sensible and forward-thinking passenger services.
“As the Federal Government encourages communities to manage future droughts through diversification, we have an opportunity sitting before us now to open up these regions and make that happen.”
Both mayors agreed it was vital for local government to be actively involved in scoping the business case and that they expected to have a seat at the table when the time came.