The Narrabri to North Star (N2NS) section of Inland Rail will upgrade approximately 185 kilometres of existing rail corridor and construct 1.7 kilometres of new track near Moree, New South Wales. The project is being delivered in two phases.
Phase One of the Narrabri to North Star section is one of the most advanced sections of Inland Rail, and will comprise:
- upgrade of approximately 171 kilometres of track between Narrabri and North Star via Moree
- constructing five new crossing loops
- upgrading, relocating or consolidating almost 80 level crossings and five pedestrian crossings
- installing 220 rail culverts
- installing 98 road culverts and irrigation crossings
- relocating power and telecommunications utilities, and
- minor changes to track alignments at Bellata, Gurley and Moree Stations.
Key Dates
| Oct 2019 | EOIs Open |
| Dec 2019 | RFP Open |
| Nov 2020 | Contract Award |
| Apr 2021 | Construction Commencement |
| Oct 2023 | Construction Completion |
Procurement
| Procuring Agency: | Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) |
| Shortlist: | Three shortlisted bidders were Lendlease, RailFirst Joint Venture between Downer EDI and Seymour Whyte, and Trans4m Rail Joint Venture between Rhomberg Rail Australia, BGC Contracting and SEE Civil. |
| Successful Tenderer: | Trans4m Rail Joint Venture comprising John Holland and SEE Civil. |
| Related contracts: |
PROJECT HISTORY
| Nov 2017 | The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for N2NS was released for public exhibition on 15 November and submissions closed on 15 December 2017. |
| Nov 2017 | A Joint Venture comprising WSP and Mott MacDonald was awarded the contracts for detailed designs for Narrabri to North Star and Parkes to Narromine sections of Inland Rail Project. |
| Oct 2019 | Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the major works were called, comprising works within the existing ARTC rail corridor. EOIs closed on 1 November. |
| Dec 2019 | ARTC announced a shortlist of three contractors for the project: Lendlease, RailFirst Joint Venture comprising Downer EDI and Seymour Whyte, and Trans4m Rail Joint Venture comprising Rhomberg Rail Australia, BGC Contracting and SEE Civil. |
| Dec 2019 | The EIS was put on public exhibition again in December 2019, with submissions due by 31 January 2020. |
| Feb 2020 | The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment requested that Inland Rail provide a response to submissions made to the Environmental Impact Statement. |
| May 2020 | The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment received the responses to submissions made to the EIS, and noted assessment of the planning application is under way. |
| Jul 2020 | The planning assessment for the project was fast-tracked under the NSW Government's Planning System Acceleration Program, with a decision to be made by 14 August 2020. |
| Aug 2020 | The NSW Government granted planning approval for Phase one. |
| Nov 2020 | ARTC awarded the $693 million contract to Trans4m Rail Joint Venture comprising John Holland and SEE Civil. |
| Apr 2021 | Major works commenced on the project. |
| Nov 2022 | The 83-kilometre line between Narrabri and Moree has opened for operation. The final works north of Camurra are expected to be complete in the coming months. |
| Oct 2023 | Inland Rail announced the Narrabri to North Star Phase was completed. |
Estimated Total Cost
(2020)
Sector
Rail
Procurement approach
Traditional Procurement |
Location
New South Wales |
National |
Resources
