Queensland will see a major boom in rail as projects worth almost $305 million receive funding, further supporting regional employment.
The largest investment – the $100 million North Coast line upgrade between Townsville and Rockhampton – commenced construction in July and will support more than 300 construction jobs.
Work is also underway to replace 20 timber bridges between Gympie and Cairns, an $86 million project that will support a further 280 jobs.
Later in September, work wraps up on a $21 million project to modernise Bundaberg’s rail signalling system and upgrade seven level crossings.
A $28 million project to replace 18 aging timber rail bridges between Rosewood and Chinchilla will have supported 200 jobs once that project ends in October.
A $77 million project to lower eleven historic rail tunnels on the Toowoomba Range to allow for larger container trains is expected to finish in early 2020, having supported 130 local construction jobs.
Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister, Mark Bailey, said the projects would support more than 1150 regional jobs, demonstrating the economic importance of Queensland Rail’s upgrade program.
“Our rail network is an essential part of the freight supply chain, supporting regional growth and trade through our ports, which in turn means jobs,” Mr Bailey said.
“We need to keep investing in our rail network so it’s safe and efficient for freight and passengers.
“Queensland is a big state, and rail has been part of our history for more than 150 years, so there is a massive opportunity in terms of the jobs needed to keep upgrading and maintaining that large network.
“The February floods in North Queensland that washed out hundreds of sections of the Mount Isa Line showed how much our economy – particularly the North West Minerals Province up there – relies on rail.
“Thanks to their skill and hard work, Queensland Rail’s emergency repair team got the line open again in 12 weeks.
“More than $50 million was invested in restoration works, with more than $30 million going back into regional economies through employment of contractors and purchase of materials.”
Mr Bailey said rail projects across the state were an important feature of the government’s $23 billion roads and transport infrastructure investment over the next four years.
“That investment will create 23,500 jobs, of which more that 13,500 will be done by people in regional Queensland,” Mr Bailey said.
“We’ve created a pipeline of projects that will support Queensland construction and other related jobs well into the next decade.
“This state was built on the back of our roads and rail lines, and we’ll continue to invest in them to support our growing population and the communities that rely on them.”
Would Queensland rail consider financing a project for locomotives. I am prepared to lead it. The project is “Slip/slide control with predictive wheel diameter compensation using AC traction”. This project if applied to locomotives would reduce maintenance costs significantly for locomotives. The plan is to first build a prototype where the software can be proven. Then the project can be applied to a live locomotive. The intention could be extended to develop a hybrid locomotive using either battery back up or hydrogen fuel cells to provide power.