Already, the cattle train service has been subject to restrictions such as one loading and one unloading point, and because of its seasonal nature, cattle transportation on rail is unlikely to be able to compete with cargo associated with the mining industry,

AgForce is lobbying for guaranteed service agreements for the agricultural sector to ensure the transport of food products is not jeopardised by the Bligh Government’s decision.

AgForce Cattle spokesman, Peter Hall, said without a government commitment in writing to keep agriculture on rail, it would be difficult for both grain and livestock to compete with coal.

“Given the coal industry’s service agreements which could further deprive livestock and grains of access paths, this is a distinct possibility,” Mr Hall said.

He said the sales of State assets would now require a major rethink as Queensland’s multi-billion dollar agricultural industry develops plans on how to move goods in a more commercial environment.

Mr Hall said AgForce would support the sale of the rolling stock business only if a plan for commercialisation of these services contained a community service obligation and a guarantee of agricultural services.

On the other side of the argument, Mayor of the Richmond Shire, and grazier, John Wharton, said the cattle industry had been fighting with QR for 35 years to improve the efficiency of rail transportation.

He said that for decades QR had been a reactive not a proactive organisation.

“An example of just how inefficient QR is lies in the fact that BHP own its own 400km rail line in Western Australia on which it transports 40 million tonnes a year compared to QR’s Townsville-Mount Isa line which carried 4.5mt,” Mr Wharton said.

He said it would be interesting to see if the Queensland Government would sell just the rolling stock or the rail infrastructure as well, and that if the infrastructure was sold, private enterprise would more than likely upgrade the line and improve the efficiency of the network.