But Mayor Brenton Vanstone is “dubious” about the idea.

He said on a weight-for-volume basis, a tonne of coal took up five times the weight-for-volume of iron ore.

“I would be very dubious about the ability to move large tonnages of coal through the central business district,” he said.

“I do not support large tonnages. It depends on how much.”

He said three million tonnes of coal was a totally different scenario from three million tonnes of iron ore being exported from our port.

Mr Vanstone also spoke about his thoughts on the company.

“I didn’t think the WPG project was the perfect mining project for the city in relation to train movement – but it was a catalyst for other industry,” he said.

For the full story, see the Recorder.