Surat Basin Rail chief executive Graham Dooley told International Longwall News there was now an “overwhelming impetus” to get the rail up and running as coal prices were skyrocketing.

He said the prefeasibility was complete and the project’s next step was the completion of a feasibility study, due in December this year.

Surat Basin Rail is a joint venture between miners and finance groups with five partners: Xstrata Coal, Anglo Coal, Queensland Rail, Industry Funds Management and private equity group ATEC.

Although the group still had to secure debt funding and negotiate customer contracts Dooley dismissed the suggestion this may be harder in the current tight financial market.

“Raising funds won’t be a problem,” Dooley told ILN.

Dooley said the rail network’s cornerstone customer would be Xstrata’s Wandoan mine with other mines along the line to follow and the total tonnage was expected to be 30 million tonnes over five to six years.

The route selection and alignment are still being finetuned and the environmental impact statement is targeted for October this year.

The Queensland Government has put conditions on the development of the rail saying it wants industry to fund it, not the state.

Other criteria include open access rail to all customers, a level playing field on prices and access terms for all customers, with no preference given to miners who have a stake in the rail and possible dual gauge for interstate trains.

At last week’s Surat Basin Coal Conference, coal exploration company Northern Energy managing director Keith Barker criticised the Queensland Government for its lack of investment in the region’s infrastructure, despite potentially enjoying $10 billion in royalties from the region.

Northern Energy’s Elimatta project, which is expected to produce 4–5Mt a year starting in 2012, needs the rail network to get off the ground.