THE Australian government effectively shelved the northern section of the 1700km Inland Rail freight project on May 6 after a recent independent study reported that projected costs had ballooned to $A 45bn ($US 32.6bn).

The project, which was originally planned to link Beveridge, near Melbourne in Victoria, with Kaguru, near Brisbane in Queensland, was originally costed at $A 9.3bn in 2017 and involved a mixture of new construction and line upgrades. However, the cost of the project cost had increased to $A 16.9bn by 2020, with the latest estimate putting the cost at nearly three times this figure. The study also estimates that the line will not be completed until at least 2036 under the existing plan.

The government is therefore focusing attention on completing construction of the 656.3km southern section between Beveridge and Parkes in New South Wales by the end of 2027. This will enable double-stack container trains to move between Melbourne and Perth via Parkes for the first time. Work on the now-shelved 1075.3km section north of Parkes will focus on preserving the alignment, as well as protecting sites for future intermodal terminals in Queensland.

The government announced the appointment of a new CEO for Inland Rail on May 6. Dr Sean Sweeney, previously CEO of the City Rail Link project in Auckland, New Zealand, will take up his new role on July 1. He will replace interim CEO, Dr Collette Burke, who has been appointed as the new chair of the Inland Rail board.

New funding

At the same time the federal government announced that it will make an additional investment of $A 1.75bn in the national rail freight network, which it says builds on the $A 1.04bn already committed to upgrading the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) network, taking the total value of the Network Investment Programme to almost $A 2.8bn.

According to the government, the new funding will be spent on upgrades to improve the efficiency of the East Coast network, including track renewals, extending passing loops, and improving signalling to remove speed restrictions, which will cut transit times, enable the operation of longer trains and improve service reliability and safety.

The funding will also cover resilience upgrades on sections that are at high risk of flooding, particularly along the East-West Corridor between Perth and Sydney, which has suffered from numerous prolonged closures over the last decade following heavy rain in central Australia.

In addition, the government has announced a new $A 55m programme to incentivise modal shift from road. The Transport Resilience and Capacity Kickstart (Track) pilot programme will provide support for more fuel-efficient freight movements across Australia.

“The $A 1.75bn investment in the ARTC network will shift more freight onto rail and protect this network for decades to come,” says Catherine King, federal minister for infrastructure, transport, regional development and local government.

“This is critical funding that follows decades of under-investment in the network.”

Industry response

The response from the rail sector has been broadly positive. The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) has welcomed the additional investment, but says that the Inland Rail project is still essential. “In a constrained fuel environment, this investment strengthens energy security while improving the efficiency of key industries,” says ARA CEO, Caroline Wilkie.

“While the rail industry still strongly supports the completion of the Inland Rail project, we recognise that the escalating projects costs need to be balanced against broader infrastructure priorities.”

Major freight operator Aurizon is similarly positive. “Through the Freight on Rail Group, we have advocated for additional funding to help improve the resilience of Australia’s national rail freight network and we appreciate the government listening and acting on industry concerns,” says Aurizon CEO, Andrew Harding.

“We would like to see Inland Rail completed at some stage, but while there still remains uncertainty around the cost and elements of the project, the focus for now on preserving the corridor north of Parkes is a sensible decision that will help facilitate construction in the future.”

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