FED: Rail company proposes $900m Moree-Toowoomba link

AAP General News (Australia)
04-03-2008
FED: Rail company proposes $900m Moree-Toowoomba link

CANBERRA, April 3 AAP - The company pushing a proposed Melbourne to Brisbane inland
railway has submitted a business case to the NSW and Queensland state governments for
a $900 million, 350 kilometre section of the link.

Australian Transport and Energy Corridor (ATEC) has asked premiers Morris Iemma (NSW)
and Anna Bligh (Qld) for an "unconditional exclusive mandate" to build a border railway
between Moree and Toowoomba.

ATEC says the link will cost $900 million and be built by 2014.

ATEC chairman Everald Crompton said the border railway would be built by a consortium
of rail, infrastructure and superannuation companies, many of whom "have already expressed
genuine interest in this substantial project".

The federal government last week announced a $15 million feasibility study into the
proposed Melbourne to Brisbane railway.

It is expected the $3.1 billion railway would take freight off the roads and slash
rail freight travel time between the two cities from 36 hours to 21 hours, making it competitive
with road transport.

The proposed inland rail link would pass through central-western NSW, bypassing Sydney.

Federal Transport and Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese says the feasibility
study, to be conducted by the Australian Rail Track Corporation, will help the government
evaluate whether the project is viable.

The Melbourne-Brisbane railway was first mooted under the former Howard government.

AAP jcd/rl/it/mn

KEYWORD: RAILWAY

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