The Inland Rail project would see the creation of a 1,700-kilometre Melbourne to Brisbane freight rail corridor along Australia's east coast – bypassing the congested Sydney network and the circuitous north coast line via Australia's four richest farming regions in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. This would include approximately 1,200 kilometres of major upgrades and enhancements, and 500 kilometres of new track.
The project is being overseen by the Commonwealth-owned Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC). ARTC has split Inland rail into 13 sections, with one in Victoria, seven in New South Wales and five in Queensland. These are:
- Beveridge to Albury
- Albury to Illabo
- Illabo to Stockinbingal
- Stockinbingal to Parkes
- Parkes to Narromine
- Narromine to Narrabri
- Narrabri to North Star
- North Star to New South Wales/Queensland Border
- New South Wales/Queensland Border to Gowrie
- Gowrie to Helidon
- Helidon to Calvert
- Calvert to Kagaru, and
- Kagaru to Acacia Ridge and Bromelton.
The delivery of the three sections from Gowrie to Kagaru has been announced as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Package. The delivery of Narrabri to North Star section has been split into two phases.
Key Dates
2018 | Construction Commencement |
2031 | Expected Construction Completion |
Funding contributions
Federal Government | |
2013–14 Federal Budget made an initial grant funding allocation of $300 million for pre-construction activities. The 2024-25 Federal Budget committed $5.0 million for FY2024–25 to develop a business case and progress technical and environmental planning for an intermodal terminal in Parkes, with funding to be redirected from existing National Intermodal Corporation equity. |
Financing
Equity Finance: | Federal Government |
The 2016-17 Federal Budget allocated $594 million to ARTC for the purchase of land corridors. The 2017-18 Federal Budget made an $8.4 billion equity injection into the ARTC for the delivery of Inland Rail. An additional equity investment of up to $5.5 billion in 2020-21 Federal Budget brings the total investment to $14.5 billion. |
Procurement
Procuring Agency: | Australian Rail Track Corporation |
Related contracts: |
PROJECT HISTORY
2013 | The Inland Rail Implementation Group (IRIG) was formed. |
2013 | 2013–14 Federal Budget allocated $300 million in grant funding for pre-construction activities of the project. |
2015 | Inland Rail Implementation Group Report and associated program Business Case was released. These documents outlined a 10 year delivery schedule for Inland Rail and endorsed a ‘base case’ corridor (refined from the 2010 Alignment Study). |
2016 | Infrastructure Australia assessed the Inland Rail Business Case and rated the project as a Priority Project. |
2016 | The 2016-17 Federal Budget allocated $594 million for the purchase of land corridors. |
2017 | The 2017-18 Federal Budget announced that $8.4 billion in equity over seven years is to be invested into the ARTC for the delivery of Inland Rail. Under the measure, the ARTC will leverage greater debt and enter into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) for the Toowoomba (Gowrie) to Kagaru sections. |
2018 | The Federal Government signed bilateral agreements with the Victorian and NSW governments providing consent for ARTC to deliver the sections of Inland Rail in each state and a commitment to negotiate a new long term lease with ARTC. |
Jun 2018 | The Future Freight Joint Venture comprising AECOM and Aurecon was awarded five design contracts for the Inland Rail project. The contracts awarded include design work on the Gowrie to Kagaru PPP, Border to Gowrie, and North Star to Border sections of the project. |
Oct 2018 | Parkes to Narromine construction contract was awarded to INLink Joint Venture comprising Fulton Hogan and BMD Constructions. While the exact value was undisclosed, the contract was valued at more than $300 million. |
Dec 2018 | Construction started on the Parkes to Narromine section of the program. |
Mar 2019 | Procurement on the Toowoomba to Kagaru PPP started in March 2019. |
Jun 2019 | ARTC appointed Turner & Townsend and SNC-Lavalin to provide Programme Management Office (PMO) services across the entire Inland Rail project. |
Oct 2019 | Industry briefings were held in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. |
Nov 2019 | The Federal Government signed a bilateral agreement with the Queensland Government to deliver the Queensland sections of the project. The agreement will also see joint development of business cases for passenger rail services from Salisbury to Beaudesert, Brisbane to Toowoomba and a dedicated rail freight line to the Port of Brisbane. |
Jun 2020 | The Federal Government announced that Federal planning approvals for Inland Rail projects will be fast-tracked under a bilateral model between the Federal and State Governments, reducing the approval times by up to 50 per cent. |
Sep 2020 | Parkes to Narromine section of the project was completed. |
Sep 2020 | ARTC appointed a partnership comprising RPS, Flagstaff Consulting, TSA Management, and MBB Group to provide transaction management services across the entire Inland Rail program. |
Sep 2020 | ARTC opened Registrations of Interest (ROI) for the Rail Corridor Package, closing on 13 October 2020. ARTC is seeking a single contractor to undertake works across 561 kilometres of the corridor, across the Narromine to Narrabri, North Star to NSW/Queensland Border, and NSW/Queensland Border to Gowrie sections. |
Dec 2020 | The Federal Government announced an additional equity investment of up to $5.5 billion to the Australian Rail Track Corporation for the delivery of the Inland Rail project, bringing total investment to $14.5 billion. The additional equity will enable an expansion of the scope of the project, including additional culverts, viaducts, bridges, level crossings, embankments and tunnel diameters. |
Feb 2021 | The Australian Rail Track Corporation awarded a contract worth more than $30 million to Arcadis for signalling design and the delivery of rail safety systems for the Inland Rail project, north of Illabo in New South Wales, through to Acacia Ridge and Bromelton in Queensland. |
Jun 2021 | The ARTC sought tenders for a Support Services Panel, with tenders closing on 23 June 2021. The Panel covers a broad range of disciplines for an initial term of three years from August 2021. |
Jun 2021 | The Queensland Transport and Roads Investment Program (QTRIP), released along with 2021-22 Queensland Budget, indicated the bulk of business case development work for a future intermodal terminal in Brisbane, to service Inland Rail Freight Corridor, will occur in FY2021-22, with the business case to be finalised by FY2022-23. The $10 million funding for the business case is provided by the Federal Government. |
Sep 2021 | The ARTC started announcing preferred proponents for revised civil works packages, informed by market engagement undertaken in 2020. Some of the new works packages combined more than one geographic section of Inland Rail while others were aligned with the existing geographic sections in whole or part. |
Mar 2022 | The ARTC appointed WSP to six Support Services Panel categories, including Engineering and Technical, Safety, Stakeholder Engagement, Communications, Organisational Development and Change, and Training. |
Oct 2022 | The Federal Government has appointed Dr Kerry Schott AO to lead an independent review into the delivery and implementation of the Inland Rail project. The review is expected to be completed by early 2023. The Terms of Reference for the review include assessing Australian Rail Track Corporation's (ARTC) governance and delivery approaches, reviewing the processes for selecting Inland Rail routes, and assess the projects Scope, Schedule, and Cost. |
Apr 2023 | The Federal Government released the independent review into Inland Rail and its response to it. The Review found that the program's estimated total cost had increased from $14.8 billion to $31.4 billion, and the estimated completion date had been delayed from 2026 to 2030-31. |
May 2024 | The 2024-25 Federal Budget allocated $5 million in FY2024–25 to develop a business case and progress technical and environmental planning for an intermodal terminal in Parkes, New South Wales, to support the Inland Rail program, with funding to be redirected from existing National Intermodal Corporation equity. |