Goonyella to Abbot Point Rail Project

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The Goonyella to Abbot Point Rail Project is a proposal by BHP Billiton to construct a new 290 kilometre rail line to the Abbott Point Coal Terminal. The project, the Queenland government announced in late-October 2011, "could service new mines and expansion projects within the Bowen basin".

In late October 2011 the Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for State Development and Trade, Andrew Fraser, announced that the BHP Billiton MetCoal Holdings project "could potentially export around 60 million tonnes of coal each year." The development, Fraser gushed, "underscores the potential of the Abbot Point Coal Terminal to be one of the biggest coal export terminals in the world." Despite his enthusiastic endorsement of the project, Fraser insisted that it didn't mean that the project would "get a rails run."

Background

In a mid-2011 briefing note BHP Billiton stated that it is "investigating rail and port infrastructure options in the Northern Bowen Basin to support significant potential expansion of existing operations and new operations." It stated that a "key part of this is a dedicated rail line from Goonyella Riverside Mine to BHP Billiton’s proposed terminal at Abbot Point to support BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) and BHP Billiton Mitsui Coal (BMC) operations and future growth projects." The company states that the line would be approximately 250 - 290 kilomentres long and that it has begun work on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

DEEDI project website

• http://www.deedi.qld.gov.au/cg/goonyella-abbot-rail.html

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