THE Australian Rail Track Corporation has begun talks with industry to build a 171km section of rail track in northern New South Wales and to deliver 1.44m sleepers as part of the Inland Rail project.
ARTC has called for two separate expressions of interest to seek applicants for construction on the Narrabri to North Star section of Inland Rail and a second process to supply rail sleepers program wide.
ARTC Inland Rail chief executive Richard Wankmuller said as work continued on the project more and more regional communities would benefit economically.
“Inland Rail is already securing jobs for regional Australians. The benefits of Inland Rail will be felt far beyond the route as businesses come on board to build this essential link in our national supply chain,” Mr Wankmuller said.
“This once-in-a generation project will complete the backbone of the national freight network by providing a transit time of 24 hours or less for freight trains between Melbourne and Brisbane via regional Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland,” he said.
“Inland Rail is creating opportunities for regions to connect to cities and businesses to markets. With a project of this size comes numerous prospects for people, businesses and communities to profit and prosper.”
Industry briefings are being held to provide an update to the construction industry on Inland Rail with almost 1000 people registered to attend three sessions in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney and through the live stream service in the coming week.
