<p>A matter of days after Wakefield Transport chief Ken Wakefield called for an end to Mildura rail line upgrade delays, Victorian premier Steve Bracks pledged today (Monday, May 28) to start work in September.</p> <p>Mr Bracks’s office said the $73m project would begin “despite continuing silence from the Commonwealth Government on their promised financial contribution”, put at $20m.</p> <p>The project will see the replacement of about two in every five timber sleepers between Mildura and Gheringhap, north of Geelong.</p> <p>“We will be letting contactors for the supply of sleepers this week,” Mr Bracks said.</p> <p>“We will also advertise for tenders for other works required as part of the upgrade.</p> <p>“We expect to start work in September beginning at the Mildura end of the line.</p> <p>“Those works will take about two years.”</p> <p>Last Thursday, Mr Wakefield said upgrade delays to the line southeast from Mildura were making rail unviable and that two siding derailments on consecutive days earlier this month were also costly and had caused freight delays.</p> <br />
