Inland Railway

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It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the infrastructure approaches, and more information becomes available.

The Australian Inland Railway is a proposed railway extending in a north-south direction across the continent from Melbourne to Cairns along a route in mostly flat terrain west of the mountainous Great Dividing Range. The line would be standard gauge, except where it shares the alignment with the narrow gauge of Queensland, in which case the track would be dual gauge. The line would be built with dual gauge sleepers to facilitate a change of gauge at a later date.

The line would open up coal deposits in southwestern Queensland which need access to heavy duty ports such as at Gladstone or Rockhampton.

The line would also be used for general freight, where the flat terrain would provide a high speed alignment.