Early work is about to start to pave the way for removal of two railway level crossings and improved safety at key locations along the Inland Rail project corridor, near Parkes and Illabo in regional New South Wales.
Once these works are complete, there will be capacity for double-stacked train movements up to 1.8 kilometres long.
Level crossings on the Newell Highway at Tichborne and on the Olympic Highway at Harris Gates will be removed and replaced using grade separation as either overpasses or underpasses.
Geotechnical investigations, biodiversity studies and Aboriginal cultural heritage surveys of the Tichborne site and surrounds will begin on Wednesday 12 February.
Work is due to be carried out on weekdays from 7am to 6pm until the end of March, weather permitting.
Intermittent changed traffic conditions will be in place on the Newell Highway including stop/slow traffic movements.
The geotechnical investigations at the Tichborne site will be followed by similar work at the Harris Gates intersection in coming months.
The federal government is investing $280 million in the project, while the state government is contributing $70 million.
The Australian Government contribution is part of a broader $450 million commitment to grade separating Inland Rail interfaces with roads across NSW.
The governments said the project will improve road and rail safety while allowing freight to be delivered faster and more reliably.
Senator for NSW Deborah O’Neill said the development of Inland Rail will be a boost for regional NSW, creating thousands of jobs and helping to move goods between Melbourne and Brisbane via inland NSW more efficiently.
She added: “Inland Rail is an investment in better connecting regional business, manufacturers and producers to national and global markets while enhancing national freight and supply chains networks.”
NSW Regional Transport and Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison said that by grade separating road and rail at these locations, the risk of a crash will be “eliminated”.
“This investment will improve safety at two key intersections on the Inland Rail route while realising the project’s potential to expedite the movement of freight on our road and rail networks,” she said.
“Crashes at level crossings have the potential to cause major trauma and even fatalities, which have devastating impacts on families and local communities.”
