Business lobby upset by rail failure
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Damon Thomas says rail uncertainty has affected investment. (ABC News)
Tasmania's business lobby says it is flabbergasted at the lack of information from the State Government about Pacific National.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry says the problems with the rail network are affecting business confidence and investment decisions.
Pacific National is selling its Tasmanian rail operations.
The company is using the loss of a coal contract to avoid a $10 million investment that was a condition of a taxpayer-funded rail rescue plan.
TCCI chief executive Damon Thomas says he can hardly believe it.
"We have State, Federal and we thought we had the rail operator's commitment to a tripartite agreement on the expenditure of well in excess of $120 million," Mr Thomas said,
"But we've always been led to believe as a business community, that the state money is dependent on the Federal and that both the Federal money and the state money is dependant on the Pacific National's money or the rail operator's money."
He says the government should have ensured Pacific National was forced to honour any contractual obligations.
"Now if the rail operator is now not bound under contractual arrangement, then rail is back totally in the question mark for the state of Tasmania."
Mr Thomas says Tasmania will become the only place in the developed world without an effective rail system.
