NEC managing director Keith Barker said a rail link into Brisbane from the Ashford region or improved access to Newcastle would enhance prospects for the development of any coal resource at Ashford – a joint venture between NEC and Renison Consolidated Mines.

The Ashford coal project is 10km north of Ashford and some 60km north of Inverell in northern New South Wales.

The Federal Government has decided the proposed inland railway will run through Parkes before heading north through western NSW to the Queensland border.

The Government now plans to commission a $A15 million engineering and scoping study to determine the best alignment for the railway within this broad route.

“A new standard gauge railway would be expected to offer greatly increased capacity and efficiency when compared with the existing rail network servicing northern NSW and southern Queensland,” Barker said.

“The exact alignment of the proposed inland railway is to be one of the issues addressed in the scoping study. The potential development of an export coal project in the Ashford region may well have some influence on this alignment.”

Barker said he was keen to consult with the study team as the company progressed its exploration program at Ashford.

“Development of a rail link between Melbourne and Brisbane will also further enhance the potential for the eventual development of a rail link along the entire eastern seaboard up to Gladstone where a major expansion of coal export facilities is underway,” he said.

“This has the potential to benefit the Surat Rail Project and NEC’s Elimatta Project where drilling to extend the existing resource commenced last week.”