Rail project on track for range

AN $8.4b investment into the Australian Track Corporation will deliver an Inland Rail link between Melbourne and Brisbane and a boon to Queensland’s south-west.

The 1700km freight corridor will travel via Toowoomba, Parkes and Albury with links to other state capital cities via the existing Australian Rail Track Corporation network.

The so-called Steel Mississippi has long been a National Party priority.

It involves about 500km of new line and upgrades to 1200km of existing rail corridors which the government claims would generate 16,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Delivery would result in a 10hour saving on existing routes and reduce the Brisbane to Melbourne route to a travel time of less than 24 hours.

Treasurer Scott Morrison told parliament the decision was one of the biggest investments ever seen in regional Australia.

“It will benefit not just Melbourne and Brisbane, but all the regions along its route,” Mr Morrison said.

Work would begin this financial year through a combination of government equity investment and a Public Private Partnership which would be used to deliver complex elements including construction of 8.9km of tunnels through the Toowoomba range Benefits include the removal of 200,000 truck movements travelling the entire length of the corridor each year by a doubling of the freight capacity over existing train routes.

It would carry the equivalent of 110 B-double road freight trucks at a time at speeds to 115kmh.

Work will begin on existing sections along the ARTC network including the Parkes to Narromine and Narrabri to North Star corridors.