$2 million in “future proofing” upgrade works for the Inland Rail project have been completed between Parkes and Narromine in central NSW.
Both the ARTC’s new Inland Rail CEO, Richard Wankmuller, and chairman, former National Party leader and deputy prime minister, Warren Truss, visited bridge upgrade works as they were wrapping up in Goonumbla earlier this week alongside ARTC managing director John Fullerton.
A planned operational shutdown of the line allowed ARTC teams to replace fourt timber bridges with new concrete bridges according to engineering standards in line with the Inland Rail project.
“The concrete bridges are stronger, which will provide productivity benefits for the local rail network,” Fullerton said.
“Importantly, once Inland Rail is approved and constructed, the bridges will support the longer, heavier, more efficient trains that will carry the lion’s share of domestic freight between Melbourne and Brisbane.”
Construction works are set to begin on the Parkes-Narromine section of the Inland Rail project in mid-2018, and the bridge works had been carried out with this in mind, said Wankmuller.
“Inland Rail is fully funded with construction poised to begin this year,” he said.
“ARTC is getting on with the job. There is significant activity happening on the ground in NSW and was keen to see the work first-hand.”
The Parkes-Narromine section of the project will involve upgrades to the existing rail corridor to prepare the line for the “double-stacked” 1.8-kilometre-long trains that will travel on the Inland Rail, through upgrades to the track, track formation and culverts.
Fullerton said the double-stacked trains would allow regional producers to get more of their commodities on each train and help rail better compete with road freight.
“One 1.8 kilometres train with ‘double-stacked’ container capacity using Inland Rail will support the movement of about 2,500 tonnes of freight in a single strip, which will slash freight costs by around 30 per cent compared to road.”
Further works for the Parkes-Narromine project will include the creation of three new crossing loops, to be constructed at Goonumbla, Peak Hill, and Timjelly, and a new 5.3-kilometre-long rail connection to the Broken Hill line west of Parkes.
There is also to be ancillary works for flood immunity of the line, along with improvements to stormwater and drainage, and upgrades to existing fencing of the rail corridor.