ARTC Inland Rail has celebrated one year of construction of Inland Rail in Victoria and its clear local Victorian communities and businesses are reaping real benefits from the new investment in essential public infrastructure.
To date Inland Rail has spent $45.1 million with 196 local Victorian businesses and employed 732 locals on the Victorian section of the project.
The project started work at four sites in 2023 – Barnawartha North, Glenrowan, Wangaratta and Seymour-Avenel Road, Seymour – and steady progress has been made with Barnawartha North completed and Glenrowan close to completion.
In partnership with construction contractor McConnell Dowell, work on the project to date includes:
- Barnawartha North – 13,000m³ of soil was removed and 400 metres of track lowered to allow trains to pass under the Murray Valley Highway
- Glenrowan –more than 1200m³ of concrete has been used to construct a new 145 metre Beaconsfield Parade bridge that will open on March 1
- Wangaratta – work surrounding the Wangaratta Railway Station continues with a pedestrian underpass installed, the Green St bridge removed for a new bridge to be built and work on a new platform commencing
- Seymour-Avenel Rd, Seymour – the current bridge will be removed in March and construction will begin on a new bridge
- Overhead signalling gantries raised at 5 sites
- Power lines raised at 12 out of 34 sites, two of these transmission tower sites
Ed Walker, ARTC Victoria and South Australian General Manager Projects said they will aim to complete the projects by 2027.
“The Barnawartha North project has been completed and we will soon finish the new Beaconsfield Parade bridge in Glenrowan and open it to the public,” he said.
“It great to see so many local Victorian workers and businesses working on the project and spreading the benefits of the project into local communities.
“We thank local communities for their understanding and patience as we continue to deliver this national building project.”
Inland Rail is a nation building rail project that will transform how goods are moved around Australia, first connecting Beveridge (just out of Melbourne) to Parkes, NSW, by 2027 before later connecting from Narromine, New South Wales, to Ebenzer, Queensland.
In Victoria, work will take place at 12 sites to lower tracks and raise bridges to enable double-stacked freight trains to pass safely and ensure everyday products can be delivered faster and more reliably around Australia.
Inland Rail is planning to award the construction contract for the remaining eight construction sites in mid-2024, with construction expected to commence in early 2025.
Harriet Christopherson, McConnell Dowell General Manager – Rail said it has been an exciting year.
“We are looking forward to the year ahead with the completion of construction of the new Beaconsfield Parade bridge in Glenrowan, lots of work at the Wangaratta railway precinct and building a new Seymour-Avenel Road bridge to come,” she said.
“The communities across all our sites have been amazing to work with and we thank them for their understanding while we continue to progress our construction.”
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