Engineering, Freight Rail

Murray Basin project well underway

Victorian agriculture minister Jaala Pulford says port competitiveness was a key factor in deciding to invest in the upgrade of the rail network in north-western Victoria.

The $220m Murray Basin project standardises or upgrades the entire Murray Basin freight network improving safety, capacity and freight service reliability right across northern and western Victoria, better connecting farmers with the ports of Geelong, Portland and Melbourne.

Speaking at the Australian Grains Industry Conference in Melbourne, Pulford said progress was now “well and truly under way on this very significant infrastructure project”.

“When we were considering the business case finalising that work and considering a range of options about how to do this, improving port competitiveness was a significant factor,” Pulford told the conference.

“This will remove around 20,000 truck trips to the ports each year and great progress is being made.

“Many tens of thousands of sleepers (have been) laid and (we are) transitioning from stage-1 of that project to stage-2.”

She noted a significant contribution from the federal government.

“The Victorian government was prepared to go on our own way, but we very much welcome the federal government’s contribution.”

This article was originally published by Rail Express affiliate Lloyd’s List Australia.

10 Comments

  1. Now this is the sort of rail infrastructure rural Australia needs. Not some silly, wasteful passenger rail system.

  2. “silly, wasteful…” have you driven around any of our large cities lately, Craig? tell me how silly and wasteful commuter and passenger rail projects in pretty much every state have been in moving people and getting traffic off the roads…Have you looked at the Regional Rail success in Victoria? New electrification in Adelaide and new lines in WA have transformed those cities. Even the incompetent and incompatible Northwest rail link in Sydney will provide a needed boost to that ailing system…Open your eyes and make some observations before mouthing off …PS Boring Commodore photo you have

  3. I was referring to the proposed high speed rail system and not suburban passenger rail systems.

  4. Regional rail in Victoria isn’t really regional rail is it. In NSW it would be considered intercity and have wires overhead and double deck trains. Geelong would be considered outer suburban if it was in Sydney. Regional rail is what XPT’s and Xplorers do in NSW. Services over 12 hours long. Not what victoria calls regional rail

  5. Technically you do have trains to Warrnambool, Swan HIll, Bairnsdale and Albury. And the Overland to Horsham. Guess that counts as regional?

    But yes, the kind of rail infrastructure Oz needs is better freight rail systems. Such as the Mildura line standardization. After this, hopefully the Shepparton lines standardization, which if that happened, and the NSW Tocumwal line reopened (and the dog leg between Finley and Jerilderie eliminated), that’d be the southern arm of the Inland Railway completed

    Oh, and the Mt. Gambier rail network would be a good place to standardize too. Shame that was isolated when Melbourne-Adelaide was converted to standard gauge

  6. Yes those towns you mentioned are rural but Geelong isn’t and my question is why isn’t the line to Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat not electrified?

  7. True, Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Traralgon are sort of psuedo-outer suburban runs. As for lack of electrification, compared to NSW, I’m sure as you well know NSW network was electrified because of heavy coal traffic on steep grades.

    Victoria never really had such massive freight traffic and had comparatively light grades, although the Traralgon line was electrified to cater for brown coal out of the LaTrobe until 1987 when coal plants in Melbourne were being phased out and brown coal traffic was no longer required. Geelong was considered for electrification after the second world war, but that never occurred, although PTV want to electrify Geelong within 20 years, and Infrastructure Victoria had listed electrification of the RFR network as a priority

  8. To lithgow maybe, but not to Kiama or Newcastle since the central coast is flat and the hunter valley network is not electrified or ever has been.

  9. While this is Interesting, I believe what didn’t get brought up was Resource Mining on Both Sides of the NSW/Victoria sides of the Border.- Example – Mineral Sands. Other Resources? – Yes based on proposed
    developements I have heard about over the Years. If We are lucky – a Big If, Perhaps the ideal Rail Link between Muldura and Broken Hill might B able to go ahead provided Both State Governments and the Federal Governments agree to Co – operate to open up a 2nd Transcontenental Rail Link between Melbourne and the West, It will B interesting to see what happens in the next few years,