Inland Rail project closer to reality as contract awarded

Visualisation of a proposed viaduct structure on the Gowrie to Helidon Project. Credit: Inland Rail

The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has appointed Regionerate Rail, a consortium comprising Clough, GS Engineering and Construction, Webuild (formerly Salini Impregilo), Service Stream and Plenary Group, which represents a significant milestone for the Inland Rail.

The section spanning Gowrie (near Toowoomba) to Kagaru (near Beaudesert) is approximately 128km of new and upgraded rail track through the most geographically challenging section of the 1,700km rail line from Brisbane to Melbourne and includes a 6.2km tunnel through the Great Dividing Range, the largest diameter freight tunnel in the southern hemisphere.

“This landmark agreement is huge for Inland Rail and puts billions of dollars in stimulus, jobs and long-term economic growth on the table for Queensland; through construction, Inland Rail is expected to support more than 11,800 jobs and deliver a $7.8 billion boost to the state’s economy during construction and the over the forward operations,” Rebecca Pickering, Interim Chief Executive for ARTC Inland Rail, said. “This is an important step, Regionerate Rail have been able to leverage their own considerable engineering expertise to produce truly innovative design and construction methods for this technically challenging project,”

“I am looking forward to seeing their solution become a reality. This project is a game-changer for the way we will deliver freight around the nation and during the past two years we have been reminded time and time again how important our future supply chains are.”

ARTC and Regionerate Rail are committed to maximising employment and business opportunities through the project, which goes through the local government areas of Toowoomba, the Lockyer Valley, Ipswich and the Scenic Rim.