The release of an economic plan for North West Queensland has thrown the spotlight on Cloncurry's proposed Intermodal Freight Terminal.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Regional Development Australia's new Townsville and North West Queensland Economic Outlook report named the $31 freight terminal as one of the important upcoming projects that was shovel ready and finalising project finance.
The development on the edge of Cloncurry promises to help debottleneck the capacity-constrained Great Northern Railway between Townsville and Mount Isa.
The project was planned to begin in 2020 but the pandemic has slowed progress.
The project is being carried out by Queensland freight company Grand Central Industries (Holdings) who say the project would fill the latent capacity slack of the line by about two million tonnes a year in Stage 1.
Stage 1 will allow two additional 1000m-long trains to access, load, unload and park at an optimal location to deliver and or receive mining and other products including backloading from the Port of Townsville.
It will feature a 3.15km rail spur connecting to the Mount Isa line, two rail sidings 2.75km in length and a 1500m x 150m hardstand area to enable loading, offloading, stockpiling, parking of trains and other industrial activities.
An intersection will connect to the Flinders Highway so vehicles may easily access the 330ha Project site, effectively acting as a major Inland Port for the North West Minerals Province.
Stage 2 would involve the transformation of the initial rail spur into a full balloon loop, potentially providing access for another two 1000m trains
Grand Central Industries CEO Josip Obajdin said the project's vision was to be an open access infrastructure solution for industry players across a diverse range of sectors.
"Junior miners are particularly expected to welcome this infrastructure, for there are mineral deposits that may currently be stranded or not being fully optimised in terms of their operational and investment return potential due to a lack of access to rail and rail haulage services," Mr Obajdin said.
While you are here, subscribe to our email delivered to your inbox every Tuesday and Friday.
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
