Inland Rail – Gowrie to Helidon project - draft terms of reference for an environmental impact statement

Overview

Queensland's Coordinator-General invites you to have your say on the draft terms of reference (TOR) for an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Inland Rail – Gowrie to Helidon project.

Prepared by the Coordinator-General, the draft TOR sets out the matters to be studied within the EIS. You are invited to comment on whether the draft TOR adequately covers all the matters Australian Rail Track Corporation Limited (ARTC) must address when preparing the EIS.

About the project

The proponent, ARTC, proposes to develop an inland rail line between Melbourne and Brisbane via regional Victoria, central-west New South Wales and Toowoomba The rail line will be approximately 1710 kilometres (km) long and would use the existing interstate rail line where possible.

The Inland Rail – Gowrie to Helidon project would be one of five corridor sections to be located in Queensland.  The route would generally be within the existing Gowrie to Grandchester future public passenger transport corridor identified by the State government.  The project would require a land corridor with an average width of 65 metres.  The corridor would be of sufficient width to accommodate future upgrades, including a possible requirement to accommodate trains up to 3600 metres long.

Key components of the project include:

• 26 km single-track dual-gauge freight rail line to accommodate double stack freight trains up to 1800 m long
• a 6.3 km tunnel through the Toowoomba Range
• construction of rail infrastructure, culverts, bridges, viaducts and crossing loops
• connection to the existing West Moreton Railway Line
• ancillary works including road and public utility crossings and realignments.

How to comment

There are a number of different ways to provide comments on this draft TOR. You only need to provide comments using one of these methods.

1. Read the draft TOR here.

OR

Visit one of the following display locations between 6 May 2017 and 5pm, 5 June 2017 to view a printed copy of the draft TOR:

• Goombungee Library, 89 Mocatta Street, Goombungee
• Highfields Library, Community Court, Highfields Place, Highfields
• Toowoomba City Library 155 Herries Street, Toowoomba and Toowoomba Mobile Library
• Gatton Library Lockyer Valley Cultural Centre, 34 Apex Drive, Gatton
• Laidley Library, Cnr Ambrose and William Streets, Laidley
• State Library of Queensland, Cultural Centre, Stanley Place, South Bank, Brisbane.
• National Library of Australia, Parkes Place, Canberra

2. Click on the 'Make a comment' link below

OR

Send your comments to one of the following:

Email: inlandrailg2h@coordinatorgeneral.qld.gov.au

Post: The Coordinator-General

C/- EIS Project Manager – Inland Rail - Gowrie to Helidon project
Coordinated Project Delivery Division
Office of the Coordinator-General
PO Box 15517
City East Qld 4002 Australia

Fax: +61 7 3220 6502

Note: If you wish to attach anything (e.g. maps, images or supporting documents), please use the email option instead of the online form.

Relevant links

• More information about the project
• Download a submission form
• Read more about the coordinated project EIS process

What happens next

The Coordinator-General will consider all comments received on the draft terms of reference (TOR), then issue a final TOR to the project proponent. The proponent then has 18 months to prepare a draft environmental impact statement in accordance with the final TOR.