Labor makes inland rail promise

Addressing the Infrastructure Australia conference in Melbourne today, Minister for Infrastructure Anthony Albanese said if re-elected Labor would make funding available to progress the inland rail concept to the next level through corridor preservation and land acquisition.

Mr Albanese told the conference that in 2008 he commissioned the Australian Rail Track Corporation to undertake a study into the viability of an inland rail route, with a particular focus on the economic viability of the line, the preferred route and estimated cost of construction.

That study has been finalised and is today published on the ARTC website, www.artc.com.au, and concludes the inland rail link is "a nation building project with long term merit", and would be commercially viable from 2030.

"This is a long term project that will have flow on benefits for other freight routes," Mr Albanese said.

"With a projected door-to-door time between Melbourne and Brisbane of 22 hours, the inland rail route will be comparable to the road route.

"This will help alleviate pressures on the Hume, Pacific and New England Highways.

"Importantly, the inland rail route would also take the 30 percent of freight rail that goes through Sydney – but does not stop in Sydney – out of the Sydney Basin all together.

"That means fewer freight trains on the Sydney network which will help free up capacity on an already clogged network."

Mr Albanese said funding from the next round of the Nation Building Program will be made available for the necessary planning, corridor preservation and land acquisition.

"By getting the planning right, we will ensure the sustainable growth of regional towns such as Parkes, Moree and Toowoomba," he said.

"In committing to invest in the inland rail link, we’ll transform a city like Parkes into a prosperous inland port."