LOGAN City residents have been told that some trains using the Inland Rail freight line from Kagaru to Acacia Ridge/Bromelton will be 1.8km long and carry double stacked containers.
Speaking at the Logan Country Safe City group’s meeting on Thursday, September 27, Australian Rail Track Corporation Inland Rail senior project manager Ignacio Sanz said not all the trains would be so large on the line, which he expected to be operating in 2025.
“After 2040 there is the possibility to grow the network and include 3.6km trains, but it is not certain,” he said.
“We will be completing studies for the inland route over the next year or two.
“That is when we will start seeking our approvals.”
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The Inland Rail route will complete the spine of the national freight network between Melbourne and Brisbane via regional Victoria, NSW and Queensland.
It is the largest freight rail infrastructure project in Australia, with works to start this year, and is expected to be operational in 2024-2025.
Mr Sanz told the meeting that the Inland Rail corridor did not need to resume any land.
The Salisbury to Beaudesert passenger rail was also discussed at the meeting, with representatives from the Transport Department taking questions.
The meeting was told that separate passenger rail studies and feasibility cases would be sought for the Salisbury to Beaudesert line and no physical track work would begin until the Cross River Rail project was complete.
“I’m not saying we don’t care, but there is only a certain amount of money for the state,” a TMR spokesman said.
“TMR is committed to going out and protecting the corridor, then the plans will go to government and then to public consultation,” he said.
The spokesman said land resumptions may need to occur in order to fit the two passenger lines near the freight corridor, and said the department hoped the line would be gazetted by 2019.
“The passenger line will follow the inland freight corridor up until Undullah Bridge where it would then divert toward Beaudesert,” he said.
Logan City councillor Laurie Smith said he thought the information presented at the Safe City meeting was clearer than what had previously been presented.
“Residents are concerned about the inland rail,” he said.
“I’ve said before that my residents don’t want to be able to feel, hear, see or smell those trains.
“It has been nice to hear today that the trains will not all be coal and only be up to the 1.8km length until that 2040 date.”
Cr Smith said ARTC needed to deliver their message on a regular basis and provide updates to the community.
Last week, Logan City councillors were shocked to be told by Transport Department officers that the Salisbury to Beaudesert passenger line would likely not be operational for a quarter of a century.
It had been hoped that the line could be built earlier to help ease congestion on the Mount Lindesay Highway.
