Strong progress on Inland Rail works are predicted for 2024 as the project aims to deliver on the completion of the Beveridge to Parkes sections by 2027.
This is positive news for the project which has been criticised for lack of direction, budget blow-outs and poor community consultation in the past.
New Inland Rail CEO Nick Miller addressed the Australasian Railway Association Rail Freight Conference in Sydney, saying that after having recently completed possession works on the Stockinbingal to Parkes section in NSW and the Beveridge to Albury project in Victoria, the project is making good ground towards being completed in line with the independent review into Inland Rail.
"Inland Rail is one of the biggest infrastructure projects ever undertaken by the Australian Government, it is a critical part of the transport supply chain and the economic development of Australia and is needed to keep pace with the freight demands of our growing population," Mr Miller said.
"Inland Rail is not a 'stalled project', we are making strong progress on the ground, two sections have already been completed in NSW, work is well underway on a third, and we should receive two more major environmental approvals in the coming months."
Mr Miller said the NSW government is in the final stages of the approvals process for the Albury to Illabo and Illabo to Stockinbingal sections with the Australian Government having already approved the Narromine to Narrabri section in February.
While there remains no direct link from Inland Rail to the ports at Melbourne and Brisbane, during a Q&A at the 2024 CEDA infrastructure conference, Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Catherine King said works are underway to build an intermodal terminal at Beveridge.
"National Intermodal Corporation has purchased the land at Beveridge and we're about to build basically a bigger Moorebank there," Ms King said.
"We're determined to build Inland Rail. The issue we inherited is that I don't think there is any board in the country that would make an investment decision when you don't know the route, when you don't know the cost, when you don't know whether you're going to get environmental planning approvals and you haven't got the right governance structures or the structures to deliver a project.
"It's why we've separated the Australian Rail Track Corporation going back to its core business of running and maintaining the rail freight network and the new Inland Rail Pty Ltd that is the delivery company for Inland Rail.
"There are new governance and financing structures being put in place and we are concentrating on getting a return for investment."
