Engineering, Environment and Sustainability, Freight Rail

Landowner consultations underway for Narromine-Narrabri Inland Rail corridor

The next phase of landowner consultation for the Narromine to Narrabri section of the Inland Rail project is underway this week, with the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) planning to carry out approximately 300 one-on-one meetings over the next three months.

This phase of consultations in the section’s study area follows previous ARTC meetings with around 450 landowners last year, and an information event in December that was attended by 700 people.

The Narromine to Narrabri section will comprise approximately 300 kilometres of new track, making it the longest and most significant greenfield development of the Inland Rail project.

The study corridor is approximately 2 kilometres wide (with wider and narrower variations), within which the ARTC have been carrying out consultations – with landowners and engineering and construction experts – to ascertain the most appropriate site for track placement.

Around fifty alternative options for the study corridor were considered in response to community and stakeholder feedback. The choice itself was determined according to ARTC’s evaluation process, which included ascertaining the option that best met the “Service Offering” – the level of service required from the project by freight operators and customers – and the option that had the greater advantages with regards to the costs of construction, maintenance, and track operation.

Other criteria, including safety standards, technical viability, ecological and environmental impacts, and property, landowning and land use impacts, were judged in workshopping events across 2016 and 2017.

The preferred study area was chosen, among other reasons, for its estimated 4 minutes 38 seconds reduction in transit time over 3 hours and 10 minutes for the whole Narromine-Narrabri section – a decrease of approximately 2.5% — and for its estimated 3.3% capital cost saving on the total $1.5 billion cost of this section.

According to Peter Winder, the ARTC’s Inland Rail Division CEO, the 2-kilometres study area will, over the next 18-24 months, be whittled down to a final rail corridor of 45-60 metres wide. Community and stakeholder consultations are forming part of the refinement process.

“We are focused on building the best possible rail line and the community’s input is critical in shaping the design of Inland Rail,” Winder said.

“We are listening, and we are conscious of the need to understand more about individual requirements, and community issues and opportunities. This consultation process is part of enhancing our understanding.

“We will also be talking to people about the detailed environmental and engineering investigations we need to do, property access, and the next steps in the design.”

ARTC consultation teams will begin this week in Narromine, before moving north through the study area over the coming months.

“This intensive process is just the start,” Winder said, “and there will continue to be many opportunities for the community, landowners, businesses and others to give us their feedback and help inform the project.

“Landowners are being contact directly to arrange a time as we progress this consultation over the next few months, but we also encourage people to call us any time to talk to us about Inland Rail on 1800 732 761 or through the Inland Rail website.”