Australian Transport and Energy Corridor Ltd (ATEC) chairman Everald Compton met with members of the Moree Plains Shire and the Gwydir Shire councils yesterday to get the ball rolling.

After a one and a half hour meeting Mr Compton feels all are on the same page and ready to move ahead.

ATEC just got approval to complete the stretch from Toowoomba through Moree and towards Melbourne.

“It was a very good, constructive meeting,” Mr Compton said. “I was very impressed with how they went about it.

“We obviously all want it built, we just have to make sure it’s done the right way,” he said.

There will be new track laid from North Star to Yelarbon, and upgrades made to the tracks from Yelarbon to Inglewood, Inglewood to Milmerran and Milmerran to Toowoomba.

Some new standard gauge track will also need to be laid beside narrow gauge track in Queensland to complete the connection.

Mr Compton said by 2014 Moree could become the freight hub of the area, as tracks will eventually be connected from Toowoomba through to Melbourne, with Moree in the middle.

Until now, there has only been a track that travels from Queensland through NSW in the coastal region.

This will be the first inland rail that connects the two. It will open up a number of opportunities for freight travels.

“This is quite historical for inland Queensland and NSW,” Mr Compton said.

“It stopped trade of inland communities, not having that connection before,” he said.

“And whether you believe in climate change or not, train travel is a more friendly towards the environment way to move freight,” he said.

He said he would visit the area a few times a year to meet with the councils and make sure everyone is kept up to date with the progress.

“The federal and state governments don’t know what is the best way to go about things for these local areas,” he said.

“It’s important we do this on a local level.”

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