O’Brien seeks clarification from Minister and agency

Fairfax MP Ted O’Brien, pictured, is seeking a ‘please explain’ over Nambour’s omission from fast rail plans for South East Queensland.

A map, published in September, as part of the Southeast Queensland Council of Mayors’ push for a connected fast rail network showed Nambour left off the proposed fast rail corridor.

The original plan included Nambour as the first option, with a Beerwah to Maroochydore option as Stage 2.

Member for Fairfax Ted O’Brien who has been pushing for the ambitious plan since 2018, said he’d written letters to Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge and the Faster Rail Agency.

“I too want to get to the bottom of this,” he said. “I’ve written a please explain to the National Faster Rail Agency and also written to Minister Tudge requesting a full briefing on the North Coast Connect Consortium business case. This is since hearing that apparently there’s something on the agency website saying Nambour’s out. It has not been confirmed with me either way.

“So the fight continues. The only way to get these projects is to have a go and I’ll continue to have a go in the interests of Nambour and the Coast.”

Mr O’Brien said the project was to include a new line to Maroochydore and a train line between Brisbane and Nambour which would allow for speeds between 140kph to 210kph depending on the engineering solution.

The current average speed on the line between the Sunshine Coast and the state’s capital is about 55kph.

Recent mapping from the SEQ Council of Mayors showed no fast rail corridor (yellow line) being continued through to Nambour, fuelling fears the former mill town, hospital hub and council HQ may miss out yet again.