Moving ahead with Inland Rail

Building major infrastructure, particularly a project the size and scope of Inland Rail, is a challenging but rewarding task.

Towns and communities the length of the route, stretching more than 1700 kilometres from Melbourne to Brisbane, stand to reap these rewards. Narrabri is no exception.

We need Inland Rail. Once complete, it will better connect local businesses to their international and domestic customers, making them stronger and driving the growth of this region and the prosperity of those who call it home.

With the route for Inland Rail set, we continue to move ahead with this nation-shaping project.

On the 300km Narromine to Narrabri section, we are in the final stages of planning and moving into the construction phase. Ahead of this we have appointed the Acciona CPB Joint Venture (ACACPB JV) to construct this billion-dollar section and appointed Australian company

Martinus Rail to construct approximately 570km of rail corridor from Narromine heading north.

These companies are seeking partnerships with local businesses and skilled operators to supply their services and expertise to support delivery between Narromine and Narrabri.

Our first ‘Meet the Contractor’ event in Narromine attracted approximately 70 businesses interested in building the rail corridor component. Similar events are planned for towns along the Narromine to Narrabri alignment in coming months to support civil construction.

Recently, there have been some questions raised about the Inland Rail project in Narrabri. I’d like to reassure the Narrabri community that in designing and building a more efficient and reliable rail network, safety is ARTC’s number one priority. We have assessed multiple options, balancing flood, property impacts, cultural heritage and many other factors, and I have every confidence in both the route, the infrastructure designs and the immense amount of independently-assessed work that has led to this point.

Almost 15 years of work by ARTC and world-leading engineering experts has gone into designing the Narromine to Narrabri section.

During this time, we’ve conducted detailed field studies and environmental investigations as well as extensive consultation with communities and landholders. We also validated our flood modelling against the recent flood event in Narrabri with data and aerial evidence confirming the modelling is fit for purpose.

ARTC has worked from the outset to minimise impacts on landowners and the environment, deliver a value-for-money project for taxpayers, and design the safest and most reliable rail line possible.

Australian and New South Wales government planning and approvals processes will ensure the infrastructure we build is safe and fit for purpose – and this should provide confidence to the community that we are on the right track.

As we transition towards construction, our priority is to give certainty to landowners and communities who have worked with us to reach this point as well as starting to activate and engage the business community who we need to support us to deliver this vital infrastructure for Australia. We have already spent more than $580 million on construction of Inland Rail in New South Wales, delivering new economic opportunities to more than 740 local businesses and employing more than 2270 people. I urge the businesses and people of Narrabri to embrace this opportunity and get Inland Rail ready – construction is due to start later this year, providing opportunities like never before.

Rebecca Pickering, Australian Rail Track Corporation Inland Rail interim chief executive