As the first four Victorian sites on the Inland Rail project charge strongly to the finish line, the construction of the remaining eight sites is coming into sharp focus.
Inland Rail’s appointment of a construction partner for the remaining Victorian sites is on schedule for this month, with construction commencing in early-2025 and project completion in 2027.
The Beveridge to Albury (B2A) section of the 1600km freight rail project between Melbourne and Brisbane is progressing strongly at Wangaratta, Glenrowan and Seymour and completed at Barnawartha North.
The project is transforming Wangaratta Railway Station with a vastly improved station entrance, an expansive pedestrian underpass, a new west platform and the adjacent Green St bridge is being rebuilt to accommodate the passage of Inland Rail double-stacked freight trains.
At Glenrowan the old Beaconsfield Parade Bridge has been replaced with larger safer bridge that separates traffic and the large number pedestrians and tourists visiting the town’s many cultural and heritage sites. Work continues constructing nearby footpaths, asphalting local roads, erecting lighting, and landscaping.
Addressing the Victorian Transport Infrastructure Conference, Ed Walker, Inland Rail Program Delivery Director B2A said there are always challenges on projects of this size, but the project is progressing well in Victoria.
“We have the complexity of working around an active train line so scheduling large, detailed work programs around two or three track closures per-year is critically important,” he said.
“With much of the work taking place in regional towns that have not faced construction sites of this size before, it is essential to bring the bring the community.”
The foundations have been poured at the Seymour-Avenel Road site and the new replacement bridge is under construction. The new bridge deck superstructure is being fabricated offsite, concrete abutments are underway and approach roads either side of the bridge are under construction.
Inland Rail is a nation building project that will transform how goods are moved around Australia, first connecting Beveridge to Parkes, NSW, by 2027 before later connecting from Narromine, New South Wales, to Ebenezer, Queensland.
In Victoria, work will take place at 12 sites between Beveridge and Albury, to enable double-stacked freight trains to pass safely and ensure everyday products can be delivered faster and more reliably around Australia.
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