AFR: No need to plug the inland rail gap, says CEO

The last gap in the $9 billion freight railway linking Melbourne to Brisbane won’t have to be filled for two decades because of a lack of demand, according to its chief executive.

Inland Rail CEO Richard Wankmuller said trains capable of carrying shipping containers stacked two high would not be able to travel the last 38 kilometres of the track from outer Brisbane to the Port of Brisbane.

The ability of so-called double stacked trains to use the single interstate rail line is one of its selling points to freighters, along with a cut in shipping time from 33 hours to less than 24 and a claimed 30 per cent cost reduction.

Click here to read the full version of this article in the Australian Financial Review.