The corridor, which has been approved as an infrastructure facility of significance (IFS) under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971, would be for a 495km standard gauge railway.

The decision gives greater certainty to ongoing planning and potential for investment in the proposed $5.5 billion Alpha project and Hancock’s proposed Kevin's Corner project in the Galilee Basin estimated $6.5 billion, said Queensland Infrastructure and Planning Minister Stirling Hinchliffe.

"The declaration of the infrastructure facility of significance means Hancock now has a defined corridor within which they can continue to study the feasibility of their plans,” he said.

Ultimately, it gives the independent coordinator general the power to acquire land for project infrastructure development.

Compulsory acquisition is considered a last resort by the government and, before such a power is used, Hancock would have to prove to the coordinator general that it has taken all reasonable steps to reach voluntary agreements with landholders, including those who hold, or claim to hold, native title.

“It's an important milestone towards a project that could help open up the Galilee Basin for the first time,” Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said.

“This rail project alone has the potential to create hundreds of jobs and inject billions into the Queensland economy.”

The project is subject to an ongoing environmental impact statement (EIS) under assessment by the state government's coordinator general.

Hancock indicated its preliminary discussions have begun with impacted landholders, to negotiate access to land for the rail corridor.

The approval of the project as an IFS does not in any way constitute approval, or endorsement, of the project's separate EIS.

Also in Queensland, QR National has set new weekly records for hauling coal from mines to ports.

In the week of June 21-27, QR’s coal business QR National Coal carried 4.2 million tonnes of coal in Queensland, which equates to an annualised 218Mt.

This surpassed the previous Queensland record of 4.1Mt achieved in the week of December 28 to January 3.

When tonnages from the Hunter Valley of New South Wales are included, QR National Coal carried a record 4.5Mt of coal across all its operations in the week starting June 21, beating the 4.4Mt recorded in that week starting December 28.

Last week’s announcement came after QR National marked its first day as a new company by announcing a $250 million 10-year contract with Jellinbah Resources.

QR National executive general manager Marcus McAuliffe said the record continued a period of improvement in performance by the business in Queensland in recent months.

“In the face of competition, we have set out an ambitious reform agenda for our business. Given the strong global demand for Australian coal, our customers want their tonnes delivered,” he said.

These results show QR National is doing better than it ever has before, McAuliffe said.

“Our reform program spans all aspects of our business – from the services we design to meet the needs of each customer, to our employment of more than 100 new superintendents and supervisors, and the real traction we are achieving through our reliability-centred maintenance program.”

QR National has met a series of weekly records at each of its Queensland coal systems, the general manager said.

The latest, set last week in the Newlands system, saw 414,000 tonnes of coal moved.