The Queensland Government has announced that Queensland Rail will now be transferred to a statutory authority, which it claims will allow for a greater customer focus and delivery of better train services.

State Minister for Transport, Scott Emerson, said the changes will allow the State Government to deliver further performance improvements of the rail network and bring down costs.

Mr Emerson attempted to allay fears that the Government was moving to privatise Queensland Rail.

“Transferring it from a government-owned corporation to a statutory authority brings it closer to government, not privatisation,” the Minister said.

“We will make the organisation more efficient so we can employ more train crew, deliver better timetables and add more trains to the network.”

 Mr Emerson said that without immediate intervention by the Government, funding of Queensland Rail would balloon from $1.6 billion to $1.

Legislation will be introduced to State Parliament this week with the change expected to take place from early May.