The Inland Rail Narromine to Narrabri project has been approved by the Federal Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
This follows approval by the New South Wales Government and is a key step in the staged approach agreed to by the Federal Government in its response to the recommendations made by Dr Kerry Schott for getting the delivery of Inland Rail back on track.
The approval will underpin the next stage of the design for the Narromine to Narrabri project, Inland Rail’s longest section of track comprising over 300km of new track in mid-north-western New South Wales, helping provide more certainty that Inland Rail can be built to an agreed budget and time frame.
When constructed, the Narromine to Narrabri project will link the completed Parkes to Narromine and Narrabri to North Star Phase 1 projects, providing new freight capacity and improved connectivity to ports on the east coast and westwards via Parkes to Adelaide and Perth.
Moving forward, the Narromine to Narrabri project team will continue to engage with state and local government and the community as it undertakes necessary activities to further inform the design of the Narromine to Narrabri project.
These activities include surveys and on-site investigations to help provide more certainty that Inland Rail can be built to an agreed budget and schedule.
Inland Rail has said that it is committed to ensuring that the final design of the project addresses and appropriately mitigates potential impacts to environment and social amenity in accordance with the approvals of the Federal and New South Wales Governments.
Inland Rail Director Pre-Contracts, Rob Storey, said that the Narromine to Narrabri project is Inland Rail’s longest stretch of new rail and is a key link in the future Inland Rail supply chain and less than 24-hour freight transit time for goods between Melbourne and Brisbane.
“Now that we have a full suite of approval conditions, the survey and investigation activities are critical inputs to the next stage of design and securing the land needed for the Narromine to Narrabri project corridor,” Mr Storey said.
“Inland Rail acknowledges the important input from the community, local landowners and businesses during the approvals process and remains committed to working with stakeholders.
“Inland Rail will support the shift of more goods onto rail, meaning faster, more reliable freight; safer, less congested roads; and fewer emissions.”
