IT is promoted as nation building at its best. A 1700km high-speed rail line that promises to deliver a reliable and efficient freight transport system, connecting Melbourne and Brisbane in less than 24 hours.
Based on the 10-year delivery program released in 2015, the first official double-stack container train is expected to operate in 2025.
Almost two thirds of the Inland Rail project takes advantage of existing rail corridor - particular in NSW and Victoria - building on decades of investment by the Australian government and the states in the Australian rail freight network.
In Queensland, it's a different story. Instead of choosing existing rail corridors, Inland Rail designers opted for a more direct 'green field' route in keeping with the freight system's goal of linking the northern and southern capitals in less than 24 hours.
The focus of the construction remains on the route from Yelarbon to Gowrie Junction near Toowoomba, including crossing the agriculturally significant Condamine floodplain.
While the corridor has been identified, neither the exact route or the construction method of the line across the floodplain has been announced to the ongoing frustration of affected landholders.
The Australian and Queensland governments signed a bilateral agreement allowing the multi-billion-dollar Inland Rail project to move towards construction in Queensland.
With Queensland now officially signed up, all three eastern states are committed to the delivery of the nationally significant project. The new agreement effectively gives consent for the Australian Rail Track Corporation to deliver Inland Rail in Queensland.
Inland Rail chief executive Richard Wankmuller said the bilateral agreement was a landmark moment.
"It's a really exciting project, and with construction underway in NSW, we already know how Inland Rail will create jobs and investment opportunities as well as addressing Australia's future freight challenges," Mr Wankmuller said.
"Inland Rail will provide the critical infrastructure needed to ensure Australia remains competitive by ensuring our freight and supply chain is modernised and productive to deal with the expected doubling of the freight task over the next 20 years.
"As we've seen so successfully in regional towns like Parkes in NSW, Inland Rail has the potential to reinvigorate regional Queensland well beyond the thousands of jobs that will be created during the construction phase.
"We look forward to getting on with the job in Queensland."
At the peak of construction, Mr Wankmuller said the Inland Rail project would bring more than 7000 jobs to south east Queensland and would create a national asset that will continue to serve Australia for generations to come.
The Queensland section of Inland Rail is around 21 per cent of the total length of the 1700km project. An estimated more than $6 billion will be spent during the project build.
"We know that between now and 2046, Brisbane's population is projected to grow by 1.6 million to four million, meaning the Brisbane of the future will be nearly the size of Sydney today," Mr Wankmuller said.
"With one of the strongest and most consistent growth rates of anywhere in Australia, the south east of Queensland needs to act now to ensure the best possible future outcomes.
"The next step will be the release of reference designs for the project from the Queensland border to Toowoomba released early next year and we really look forward to hearing comments from the public on that."
Condamine floodplain group spokesman Wes Judd said farmers supported Inland Rail.
"But what we need to be sure of is that the construction of this infrastructure does not create an even bigger problem that can be avoided," Mr Judd said. "The starting point is making sure the selected route is actually the most appropriate in terms of how it impacts on flood water flowing across the floodplain."
Yandilla farmer Jason Mundt was more emphatic.
"It's clear the wrong route had been chosen," Mr Mundt said. "Two major reports clearly showed the Condamine floodplain was only the third-best route of the four routes identified. Then, incredibly, it was decided on the basis of cost that it should go across 16km of floodplain from Millmerran to Brookstead."
Moves have also been made that address the missing link between the Acacia Ridge rail terminal in Brisbane and the Port of Brisbane.
The all important port received $20 million in Commonwealth funding and a matching in-kind contribution from the Queensland government to ramp up the planning required to make the essential connection.
Unless a solution is found, all of the freight proposed to be carried on the Inland Rail to be exported out of Brisbane will need to be trucked the remaining 35km on existing roads.
Already, 98 per cent of freight is trucked to the port by road, according to the Port of Brisbane website.
In 2018, that equaled about 4 million truck movements, and is forecast to increase to 13 million by 2050.
A Deloitte Access Economics paper says a dedicated freight rail connection to the Port of Brisbane could take 2.4 million trucks off the road by 2035.
Port of Brisbane chief executive officer Roy Cummins said if Inland Rail was to be done properly, it needed direct access to the port, without sharing the suburban rail passenger network.
"Funding a business case will allow all parties to assess demand, financing, design and timing for this project. It should also lead to corridor preservation as an immediate priority," Mr Cummins said.
Mr Cummins said without a port connection, freight would continue to be moved almost entirely by truck, increasing congestion, emissions and road safety risks.