In a major government announcement for Logan, the federal government has promised that Inland Rail won’t go through the suburbs of Logan.
An independent review of the project was commissioned by the government, and it was released today.
The report recommends the government scrap a proposal to end the 1700 kilometre rail at Acacia Ridge and build an intermodal terminal in the suburb, citing numerous reasons why this concept was impractical.
The report has labelled the project as chaotic, regrettable, late and over budget.
Futhermore, the predicted cost of the rail proposal has almost doubled in two years, now totalling more than $30 billion.
According to the 2020 plan, it is running four years behind schedule.
The review clarifies that the rail is, ultimately, important, as it will reduce congestion on roads and drop emissions by an estimated 750,000 tonnes a year.
But among many other issues, it says the Queensland section of the track has an “immature design and poor Environmental Impact Statements”.
Logan mayor Darren Power has been fighting the proposal for years, voicing his concerns for Logan residents who will “bear the brunt of the noise, vibration and air quality issues”.
“As the City of Logan continues to grow, more than 40,000 residents are projected to live within one kilometre of the rail corridor in the next two decades,” Cr Power said.
“After years of standing firm on our opposition to the proposed Inland Rail, I was delighted to hear the news today.
“This really was a ‘David and Goliath’ clash but it shows you should never give up on something that is worth fighting for.”
Treasurer and local member for Rankin Jim Chalmers said Logan would be spared.
“Today I can confirm that… this proposal is off the table,” he said in a statement.
“For the best part of a decade, the Liberals and Nationals ignored locals who warned against plans to end Inland Rail at Acacia Ridge.
“Kerry Schott’s scathing independent report into the Liberals’ and Nationals’ handling of Inland Rail has exposed what many in our area have been saying for a long time – that their chaotic approach to this project has put residents through years of unnecessary stress.
Mr Chalmers said the government has “listened carefully and respectfully” to locals who were going to be impacted by the development.
He said the main concerns were pollution, noise, more trucks on local roads and coal transports near homes.
Dr Kerry Schott, who led the review, said the root of the issue stemmed from the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) board’s management.
“The problem is that the board and its sub-committee do not have adequate skills to oversee this project,” she said.
In addition to the 18 other recommendations, Dr Schott said the board should forfeit their management of the project to a subsidiary company that has a sole purpose of managing Inland Rail.
Mr Chalmers said Inland Rail would not be abandoned completely, but the proposal would be changed.
“We’ll still build Inland Rail, but we’ll build it better and we’ll do it without impacting our community in the southern suburbs of Brisbane and Logan,” he said.
More to come from MyCity Logan’s reporting team.
