{"id":9664,"date":"2020-12-16T07:33:50","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T07:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=9664"},"modified":"2020-12-16T07:33:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-16T07:33:50","slug":"enhanced-inland-rail-to-provide-a-boon-for-jobs-and-economic-activity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/12\/16\/enhanced-inland-rail-to-provide-a-boon-for-jobs-and-economic-activity\/","title":{"rendered":"Enhanced Inland Rail to provide a boon for jobs and economic activity"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Morrison-McCormack Government will deliver a safer and more efficient Inland Rail whilst also backing thousands of extra jobs and billions in additional economic activity through major enhancements to the planning, design and delivery of Australia\u2019s largest freight infrastructure project.
\nThe improvements will deliver a stronger Inland Rail, with the design now including more than 4,500 additional culverts, nine additional viaducts, an additional 6.8 kilometres of bridges, 10 extra grade separations, approximately 450 kilometres of additional fencing, as well as removing 139 level crossings.
\nThese enhancements are a result of significant work by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to progress designs, to engage with communities and undertake the detailed analysis required to build the 1,700 kilometre rail line, including approximately 600 kilometres of greenfield track.
\nThe Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the enhancements would lead to a safer and more efficient Inland Rail as well as deliver significant benefits for regional communities, businesses and jobs.
\n\u201cInland Rail is a jobs bonanza. It\u2019s already supporting thousands of jobs, has already started to generate billions in economic activity and will eventually lead to a boost of more than $18 billion Gross Domestic Product during construction and in the first 50 years of operation,\u201d the Deputy Prime Minister said.
\n\u201cThese enhancements will provide for greater local investment, mean Inland Rail will now support more than 21,500 jobs at the peak of construction and deliver an extra economic boost of $2 billion.
\n\u201cAustralian communities and industries have asked for more from this national infrastructure project and we have listened.
\n\u201cThese enhancements to the Inland Rail network will deliver more contracts for local businesses and more work for Australians at a time when we need them most.
\n\u201cInland Rail isn\u2019t just being built by the big companies and Tier 1 contractors \u2013 across Australia businesses of all sizes are tendering for work and benefiting from the construction of Inland Rail.
\n\u201cThis world-class freight rail line from Melbourne to Brisbane will be the \u2018spine\u2019 of the national freight network, enabling travel between Melbourne and Brisbane in less than 24 hours, while connecting major ports and all mainland state capitals.\u201d
\nEnhancements will be made possible through an additional injection of up to $5.5 billion of equity into ARTC.
\nMinister for Finance Simon Birmingham said the Morrison-McCormack Government\u2019s investment in Inland Rail would be a game-changer to how freight is moved within Australia.
\n\u201cOur ongoing investment in Inland Rail is backing jobs and businesses in regional Australia and will see the construction of a world-class freight network connecting Melbourne and Brisbane,\u201d Minister Birmingham said.
\n\u201cEvery dollar our Government invests in Inland Rail is a dollar spent for the benefit of our regional communities, businesses, jobs and our economic recovery.
\n\u201cThis is about being responsive to the needs of the farmers, businesses and communities who will rely on Inland Rail.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re making improvements to the design to deliver a more efficient network while at the same time supporting even more jobs and more economic activity.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re going to have a mammoth freight task into the future \u2013 our urban freight task alone is expected to increase by nearly 60 per cent over the next two decades \u2013 and enhanced Inland Rail will ensure we have the capacity to meet Australia\u2019s future freight needs.
\n\u201cEnhanced Inland Rail will change the way we move freight in Australia, supporting the fast, reliable and cost-competitive movement of goods and resources. Our investment will strengthen supply chains, and better connect regional areas along the network with customers across Australia and the world.\u201d
\nThe first section of Inland Rail, between Parkes and Narromine, is now completed. In that section alone, more than 1,800 people worked on the project, including more than 762 local residents and 302 Indigenous workers. Almost $110 million was spent with local businesses, whilst 14,000 tonnes of Whyalla Steel worth $20 million was used.
\nWork has now started on the 171-kilometre Narrabri to North Star section, which will support thousands of jobs in north-western NSW and will use approximately 25,000 tonnes of Whyalla Steel and 341,000 Australian made concrete sleepers.
\nPlanning is also well advanced on other sections of the track, with the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the largest section between Narromine to Narrabri on public display and a further four statements expected to be released for the Queensland sections of Inland Rail in the coming months.
\nARTC is also currently working with the New South Wales Government to respond to submissions made during the public exhibition of the North Star to Queensland Border EIS, which closed October 2020.
\nA report by EY found Inland Rail could boost gross regional product by a further $13.3 billion in today\u2019s dollars and deliver up to 2,500 full time jobs in the 10th year of operation. This is from Australian businesses starting, growing and thriving along the Inland Rail alignment following construction and is in addition to the more than $18 billion boost to Gross Domestic Product and 21,500 jobs during peak construction.
\nFor more information on Inland Rail, visit\u00a0www.InlandRail.gov.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Morrison-McCormack Government will deliver a safer and more efficient Inland Rail whilst also backing thousands of extra jobs and billions in additional economic activity through major enhancements to the planning, design and delivery of Australia\u2019s largest freight infrastructure project. The improvements will deliver a stronger Inland Rail, with the design now including more than … Continue reading “Enhanced Inland Rail to provide a boon for jobs and economic activity”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9664\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}