Billion dollar rail line approved

A ONE-BILLION dollar railway line that will link Gladstone to the Surat Basin has been giving the green light.

Stefan Jannides Photography

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• Go-ahead for coal rail line

A ONE-BILLION dollar railway line that will link Gladstone to the Surat Basin has been giving the green light, with construction expected to start next year.

The State Government announced this morning it had given the green light to the proposed $1 billion Surat Basin Rail (SBR) project after three years of rigorous environmental assessment.

The railway line will be built between Wandoan and Banana, to link up with THE existing rail network and allow coal to be transported to the Gladstone Port and the proposed Wiggin Island Coal Export Terminal.

Gladstone Mayor Gail Sellers welcomed the news.

“This is another step in opening up the coal reserves in western Queensland,” she said.

Banana Shire Mayor John Hooper said it was great news about the inland rail.

"It's been coming for a long time," he told The Observer.

"It's one more step to it actually happening. It's all looking very positive.
 

Cr Hooper said while it would impact on some landholders, which was part and parcel with such developments, it was a positive outcome for the shire which currently has a 2% unemployment rate.

He said with the recent rain, which will benefit farmers, the coal and gas industries, it was looking to be very prosperous times ahead for Banana Shire.

Premier Anna Bligh has welcomed Coordinator-General Graeme Newton’s conditional approval of the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed new rail line, known as the Southern Missing Link.

The move follows the State Government’s recent approval of the proposed $3 billion Wandoan Coal project, which would produce coal to be transported on the railway line to port facilities at Gladstone.

Up to 1000 workers will be employed during construction of the railway, with a further 44 positions required to operate and maintain the infrastructure.

“This proposed project comprises a 210km multi-user, open-access rail line to allow for the transport of coal from the Surat Basin to the Port of Gladstone for export,” Ms Bligh said.

“It will enable the development of significant coal resources—estimated at four billion tonnes—in the Surat Basin and generate up to an estimated $300 million in royalties per year.”

The project will see coal from the Surat Basin transported along QR National’s Moura Line and the proposed Moura Link rail project, to the proposed Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal at the Port of Gladstone.

Coordinator-General Graeme Newton said the release of his report for the Surat Basin Rail project contains a comprehensive list of 115 conditions and recommendations for the construction and operation of the project.

“These conditions set requirements and procedures with respect to a number of key environmental and social issues,” Mr Newton said.

The proponent, a consortium comprising of ATEC Dawson Valley Railway Pty Ltd, Xstrata Coal Surat Basin Rail Pty Ltd and QR Surat Basin Pty Ltd, anticipates construction of the railway and its associated facilities could commence in 2011.

The first coal exports are forecast to begin as early as 2014.