QLD government finishes buying Rockhampton railyards back from Aurizon

The Queensland government has completed its acquisition of the Rockhampton railyards from freight rail transport company Aurizon, which shut them in 2018, and has flagged a potential future in rail supply chain manufacturing and hydrogen R&D.

The workshops were sold by a previous Labor government in 2010 as part of a privatisation program, with the current Labor government announcing negotiations to buy them back in October 2020 during the election campaign.

Aurizon announced in 2017 that it would close the site, citing “significantly reduced” work in recent years at the “legacy facility”, and reallocating this to other workshops in the state.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk described the yards as iconic and said the government wanted rail manufacturing to return to the city.

“That’s why we’ve bought this site – to create more rail supply chain manufacturing jobs here in Rockhampton to support train manufacturing in Maryborough,” she said in a statement on Monday. 

The Palaszczuk government has budgeted $7.1 billion for the Queensland Train Manufacturing Program, building 65 new six-car passenger trains at Torbanlea, in the Maryborough region, to address the increased need for rail transport in the state’s southeast.

It said information for the Rockhampton Railyard Expression of Interest would soon be released publicly, with future uses of the site determined following consultation with industry

Possibilities included a research centre for hydrogen-powered trains and a major supply chain hub, said transport minister Mark Bailey.

“The research into hydrogen-powered trains is particularly exciting. Hydrogen is a clean, green power source and it makes sense to look at it as a potential fuel for our future train fleets,” said Bailey.

“The precinct will also be a major rail supply chain hub for Australia, with an Expression of Interest to launch in the coming weeks, inviting businesses with a unique opportunity to establish themselves at the railyards.

Picture: Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads

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