The Albury to Illabo (A2I) section comprises upgrades along 185 kilometres of existing rail corridor between Albury at the Victoria-NSW Border to Illabo in regional New South Wales to service 1,800 metre long double-stacked trains.
The scope of work includes:
- modifications to approximately 44 km of track across 14 sites, comprising:
- realignment of track within the rail corridor at 14 sites, and
- lowering of track up to 1.6 m at three sites
- changes to bridges and culverts at sites to accommodate vertical clearances and track realignment as follows:
- replacement of two road bridges and adjustments to adjoining intersections
- replacement of three pedestrian bridges
- demolition of two redundant pedestrian bridges
- modifications to four rail bridges, and
- ancillary works, including:
- adjustments to nine level crossings
- modifications to drainage and road infrastructure
- signalling infrastructure
- fencing
- signage, and
- services and utilities.
Key Dates
| May 2021 | ROIs Open |
| Jul 2021 | EOIs Open |
| Sep 2021 | RFP Open |
| Jul 2022 | Shortlist Announced |
| Jul 2023 | Contract Award |
Procurement
| Procuring Agency: | Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) |
| Shortlist: | John Holland, the FreightConnect Consortium led by Laing O’Rourke, and Martinus Rail. |
| Successful Tenderer: | Martinus Rail |
| Procurement note: | In October 2020, the ARTC announced it would pursue a joint procurement process for the Albury to Illabo and Stockinbingal to Parkes packages to generate project efficiencies enabled by their geographic proximity and status as brownfield enhancement packages. |
| Related contracts: |
PROJECT HISTORY
| Oct 2019 | At an industry briefings, ARTC indicated Albury to Illabo would be delivered under multiple Design & Construct or Construct only contracts. |
| Oct 2020 | The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment issued the Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements for the project. The Environmental Impact Statement for the project will now be developed. |
| Nov 2020 | WSP Australia was appointed to undertake the reference design and accompanying primary approvals documentation for the Albury to Illabo and the Stockinbingal to Parkes sections of Inland Rail. The two sections were packaged together for efficiency given their similarities. |
| Dec 2020 | ARTC announced the completion of seasonal spring biodiversity surveys at a number of locations along the Albury to Illabo alignment. This informs the early reference design and primary approvals for the project. ARTC also announced that WSP, the engineering consultant, is reviewing each of the enhancement sites to begin additional geotechnical, heritage and fauna surveying, starting in early 2021. |
| May 2021 | The ARTC invited Registrations of Interest (ROIs) for the three sections of Inland Rail from Albury to Parkes, with the intention of awarding a single Design & Construct contract for Albury to Illabo and Stockinbingal to Parkes sections. Expression of Interest (EOI) phase was expected to begin in July 2021. |
| Jul 2022 | The ARTC shortlisted shortlisted three bidders for the Albury to Illabo and Stockinbingal to Parkes stages of the Inland Rail. |
| Aug 2022 | The Environmental Impact Statement for the project was placed on public exhibition, closing on 14 September 2022. |
| Nov 2022 | The ARTC announced early works have commenced on the Inland Rail between Albury and Illabo. |
| Jul 2023 | The ARTC awarded a $404 million Design and Construct contract to Martinus Rail for the 185-kilometre Albury to Illabo and 170-kilometre Stockinbingal to Parkes sections of the Inland Rail Freight Corridor project. |
Estimated Total Cost
(2023)
Sector
Rail
Procurement approach
Traditional Procurement |
Location
New South Wales |
National |
Resources
