QR a partner in $30m Tasmanian rail upgrade

<p>Queensland Rail has secured in partnership with Van Ek Contracting of Tasmania the $30m contract to upgrade the state’s ageing rail network.</p> <p>Tasmanian infrastructure minister Graeme Sturges said the contract &#8211 to replace 20 km of rail and 140,000 sleepers &#8211 was proof that the Government was determined to ensure rail freight remained a viable option in the state.</p> <p>&#8220The contact is part of the capital works program funded by the Australian Government under the rail rescue package,&#8221 he said.</p> <p>&#8220All expenditure of funding under the package is administered by the State Government.&#8221</p> <p>Planning work will get underway within two weeks with site work scheduled for November.</p> <p>Under the 12-month contract, the bulk of the site works would be complete by the second half of 2009.</p> <p>The announcement was expected to add momentum to sale negotiations between Pacific National and potential buyers, and would encourage interested parties to lodge their bids.</p> <p>QR Services’s acting executive general manager, Lindsay Cooper, said that it was important for QR to take up opportunities around the country as they arose.</p> <p>&#8220We will continue to seek more of them,&#8221 Mr Cooper said.</p> <p>&#8220This contract demonstrates QR’s commitment to growth and reflects QR Services’s pursuit of niche opportunities outside Queensland to broaden its infrastructure offerings.&#8221</p> <br />