Queensland Government rezoning the spur for finds manager to spruik intermodal hub aimed to help service Melbourne-Brisbane rail corridor
Eureka Funds Management has hailed the rezoning of part of the Bromelton State Development Area as an important step towards the creation of a crucial intermodal hub in the region.
The funds manager is now looking for partners to help develop the site.
Seven years after the North-South Rail Corridor Study findings were sought by then Coalition Transport Minister Warren Truss, the hub will be a major northern terminus of the development if it comes to fruition.
The proposed Melbourne-Brisbane line, estimated to cost $4.7 billion but which would be certain to cost more, was to have run via Dubbo but a more recent Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) study presented an alignment through Albury-Wodonga, Parkes, Moree and Toowoomba as the preferred direction.
Eureka says that, coupled with the corridor, the 480-hectare Bromelton Intermodal Logistics Hub it estimates to be worth $3 billion on completion will “help cement rail as a superior supply chain solution for long haul freight along the Australian east cost”.
“The Bromelton Intermodal Logistics Hub will be designed to provide its tenants such as freight forwarders and manufacturers a world class rail terminal to transload, switch or cross-dock the movement of freight and bulk product,” Fund Manager Gavin Norris says.
“The terminal will have the capacity to handle over 1 million lifts per annum and the park will provide close to 1 million square metres of logistics and manufacturing warehousing over the life of the development.
“With rezoning now achieved, Eureka will be seeking partners that can contribute the appropriate expertise to maximise the development and operational potential of this nationally significant infrastructure.”
Bromelton counts as a strategic site as it is located 65 km south west of Brisbane, 60 km West of Gold Coast and has access to access to National standard gauge and Queensland narrow gauge lines.
With coastal line upgrades having soaked up much available Federal funding for rail freight, the inland rail project is longer-term, with $300 million from the Nation Building 2 Program to be spent between 2014 and 2018.
