More than $360m worth of capital upgrades were in the pipeline for the Mount Isa to Townsville line in the next five years.

Queensland Rail’s Acting Head of Regional Martin Ryan said this was on top of the $338m spent on the line in the past five years.

“In the last financial year (2019-20), $64.3m was invested in planned maintenance and capital works on the line (including $3m for Mount Isa line flood recovery works), with a further $67.6m forecast to be invested in 2020-21 (including $6m for Mount Isa line flood recovery works),” Mr Ryan said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk with Queensland Rail's Martin Ryan and Jackie Trad on a train from Doomben Station. Pics Tara Croser.“An additional $50m has also been committed for three projects, including waterway resilience improvements and the replacement of ageing rail equipment such as sleepers and ballast.

“We are committed to ensuring freight services are available to support and grow local economies, particularly in regional and rural areas.”

Mr Ryan said the state government had further supported the shift from road to rail freight use as part of the 2019-20 budget.

“The Queensland Government announced it would contribute $80m over four years to reduce rail access charges on the Mount Isa line,” he said.

Mr Ryan added the freight tariffs, which were approved and regulated by the Queensland Competition Authority, was negotiated with companies on long-term agreements.