InterLinkSQ freight hub construction to start in 2022

Work is about to start on a $16 million freight hub project on Toowoomba’s western flank, bringing jobs and cheaper transport costs for Queensland farmers. More details:

A mock-up design for the InterLinkSQ intermodal terminal to be built at Charlton in the new year.

THE first steps towards revolutionising freight exports from Queensland will take place early next year after the State Government offered a $12.6 million loan to create the intermodal terminal.

When complete, the InterLinkSQ freight hub will take agricultural and mineral freight trucked in from Western Queensland and Northwest New South Wales and convert it to rail freight to be hauled to the Port of Brisbane before being loaded directly onto export ships.

The money from the Queensland Jobs Fund will cover three quarters of the total construction cost, which is expected to be about $16 million.

The terminal will take care of all the export consignment requirements to free up capacity at the port.

“It’s like bringing the prow of the ship 170km inland,” Interlink Global Logistics chairman John Dornbusch said.

“If you envision it as a port shuttle you get the idea.”

Reviewing a mock-up design for the InterLinkSQ intermodal terminal to be built at Charlton in the new year at Seaway COO Paul Szumowski, Interlink Global Logistics Chairman John Dornbusch and Deputy Premier Steven Miles.

The project was first floated about a decade ago, and Mr Dornbusch said it was satisfying to see a start date locked in.

“It has been a long haul,” he said.

“We are dealing with local and state and federal authorities. and it took us quite a while to negotiate all the infrastructure requirements on all of those levels of government.

“Then when Inland Rail was coming through, we took the strategic decision to delay some construction and acquire more land so we would have more frontage.”

The hub will sit on a 63-hectare paddock at Charlton with easy access to both the Warrego and New England Highways, alongside the proposed Inland Rail route.

Combined with the existing rail line from Brisbane to Quilpie, the location gives the hub access to east-west and north-south freight routes.

Seaway has signed a lease to operate the terminal which will provide ongoing employment for 26 people.

“There are currently 15,000 containers that come from Toowoomba or west of Toowoomba to the Port of Brisbane, and they all come by road,” Seaway chief operating officer Paul Szumowski said.

“It is our task to convert all of that beef, cotton, grain and other agricultural commodities to rail.”

The end result will be a great choice for exporters to get their product to market, but Mr Szumowski said he hoped the hub would benefit everyone on our roads.

“We all know rail is cleaner, greener, and it is nine times safer than road,” he said.

There will be continued development at the site over the next 15 years to build loading bays, cold storage, warehousing and manufacturing facilities and is expected to cost about $250m.