[QLD/NT] Melbourne-Darwin Railway (longish)

["John McCandless" <johnmc@topend.com.au>]

Taken from "The North West Star", Monday 24th July, 2000

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COUNCIL PLEDGES CASH FOR RAIL LINK

By Crispin Till

Work on a pre-feasibility study on the Cloncurry to Tennant Creek section of
the Melbourne to Darwin rail link will be under way by the end of the year.

This announcement followed a forum last week which received unanimous
support from North-West Queensland mining companies, Local Government
organisations and chambers of commerce for the $350,000 study.

Mount Isa City Council (MICC) pledged $25,000 towards the study.

Mount Isa Mayor Ron McCulloch said it was time for people and groups to put
their money where their mouth was when it came to the rail link.

"It is the future of this region," Cr McCulloch said.

"The processes at the moment are allowing people to see the whole operation,
the benefits are now a lot clearer and there is potential there for the
whole of Australia"

Cr  McCulloch said there needed to be a commitment from councils as well as
private enterprise to put their shoulders to the wheel and to raise the
money needed for the study.

Australian Transport and Energy Corridor (ATEC) chairman Everald Compton
said members at the forum decided the pre-feasibility study in to the
Cloncurry to Tennant Creek section of the line should proceed and it should
be funded locally.

Mr Compton said he was confident it could raise $175,000 for half the study
with the rest of the money coming from Federal Government funding.

"The study is going to happen, the people at the forum wanted it to start at
the earliest possible date," Mr Compton said.

The pre-feasibility study will determine the financial viability of the
line, the freight using the line and whether there were any land rights or
environmental problems which could stop construction.

"The first stage from Melbourne to Brisbane has acted as a catalyst to get
things happening," Mr Compton said.

Mr Compton said local groups accepted the rail link alone would not be a
boost to local economies.

"Councils have to commit to encourage new businesses to open in their
areas," Mr Compton said.

"Mount Isa is the best-placed city to capitalise on the line, they have a
great skills base."

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One can assume then, that ATEC would be using 3rd party access or similar on
the section Tennant Ck to Darwin.  It would make sense to use someone elses'
railway line, rather than build it yourself...

And why *Cloncurry* to Tennant Ck?   We've got at least 4 mines within about
100k of us, and no doubt more would appear with a standard gauge line to
Darwin available.  There would be no doubt that the mines would be a driving
force behind this proposal.  Whether that is good or bad would be open to
conjecture.

QR hasn't got much to worry about now, but things could get interesting if
this thing gets off the ground....


--
John McCandless
Never play leapfrog with a unicorn...
Cloncurry Qld Au
http://www.geocities.com/johnmccandlessqld