It wasn't just grazing operations that faced a lengthy road to recovery last year after a monsoon event inundated north west Queensland, with rail services brought to a lengthy halt by damage to the Mount Isa to Townsville line.
But Queensland Rail officials say shorter freight times and better flood resilience were a spin-off from works done to repair the damage.
It comes as the line is once again affected by flooding, with washouts and structure damage to bridges from Torrens Creek to Prairie.
Queensland Rail head of regional Jim Benstead said the current current weather event has acted differently to that of last year and planning for any further flood resilience works will include areas identified this year.
"The flooding in north west Queensland in early 2019 was an unprecedented weather event," he said.
"We had never seen damage of that scale on the Mount Isa line, with our teams working more than 160,000 hours across 12 weeks to get this important supply chain up and running for the region again."
Mr Benstead said steps were taken to improve the efficiency of the line during the recovery works, reducing freight times of up to 50 minutes between Townsville and Mount Isa.
"To improve the flood resilience of the line, we've increased the width and number of culverts at select locations to improve water flow, and also took the time during the recovery program to reinforce the stability of affected embankments with the equivalent of 40 Olympic swimming pools worth of crushed rock and bulk fill, and 10 Olympic swimming pools worth of road base," he said.
Mr Benstead said $60 million would be invested into planned maintenance and capital works on the line during the current financial year.
"Planning is underway for the installation of four new bridges at Corella Creek, Eastern Creek, Gilliat River and Gidyea Creek, in addition to culvert replacements at two bridges at Chatfield Creek," he said.
