Engineering, Freight Rail

Detailed design contract announced for two Inland Rail sections

A joint venture of Mott MacDonald and WSP will provide detailed design work for the Inland Rail project from Parkes to Narromine, and from Narrabri to North Star, after they were awarded a pair of contracts this week.

The Australian Rail Track Corporation contracts combine for roughly 295 kilometres of the planned 1,730-kilometre route for Inland Rail, which will link Brisbane and Melbourne via a string of inland hubs.

“We’re looking forward to providing our best-of-practice engineering to produce an innovative and value-engineered design for this significant project,” Mott MacDonald’s Australia-New Zealand managing director David Johnson said.

The sections of Inland Rail for which the joint venture has been contracted, are two of 13 total sections listed by the ARTC.

Both are in New South Wales, and both involve the realignment, and upgrade, of existing railway.

The Parkes to Narromine section, the shorter of the two in question, is 106 kilometres in length. It begins 500 metres west of the town of Narromine, and ends around 3.5 kilometres from Parkes railway station.

Detailed design work between Parkes and Narromine will need to address realignment of the track to minimise tight curves, the raising of the supportive foundations of the track, and the replacement and upgrade of several culverts and bridges.

The Narrabri to North Star section of Inland Rail covers 188 kilometres of existing track, and the construction of roughly 1,600 metres of new track, to replace an existing hairpin curve.

Both project sections in question also include the construction of new crossing loops, work on level crossings, and new signalling and communications, signage, fencing, services and utilities within the corridor.