Community consultations and field investigations by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) for the Inland Rail project are progressing during the month of April along the Queensland corridor.
ARTC will also be hosting a stand at the Toowoomba Royal show next week. Simon Thomas, ARTC’s Inland Rail programme delivery director, said it would be a good opportunity for locals to come and talk to ARTC to representatives and find out more information about the project.
“We are committed to this community, as we are to all communities along the 1700km route,” Thomas said.
“Inland Rail is going to bring huge benefits to Darling Downs and Toowoomba and it has been great to see businesses, farmers and Councils already gearing up to make the most of it.”
During April, consultation sessions in Millmerran and Brookstead will enable landowners and other community members will be able to provide feedback to the ARTC on the Condamine River floodplain studies which are being conducted for the project.
Thomas said that ARTC team members would be operating throughout the study area from the NSW/QLD border up to Toowoomba, down the Lockyer Valley and towards to Kagaru in Beaudesert.
“These studies will help us understand more about factors such as the lay of the land, hydrology, rock and soil types, and flora and fauna. In addition to informing environmental reports, the work is critical to developing the feasibility design for the rail line,” he said.
From the border to Helion, teams will conduct will be conducting ecology studies, site-walk throughs, and geotechnical testing, while, from Gowrie to Kagaru, field investigations will include geotechnical, flooding and hydrology, ecological, noise, air quality and vibration, utility identification and cultural heritage surveys.