Major enhancement contract awarded for Stockinbingal to Parkes and Albury to Illabo Inland Rail sections

This is a key milestone towards Inland Rail being completed between Beveridge in Victoria and Parkes in New South Wales by 2027, as per the recommendations of the independent review of Inland Rail published in April.

The enhancement works to be conducted by Martinus Rail will ultimately enable double-stacked freight trains to run between Albury and Parkes and will include bridge upgrades and track lowering works to create the required height and width clearances.

In addition, station precincts in Albury, Wagga Wagga and Forbes will be enhanced and an additional crossing loop will be constructed at Daroobalgie.

Initial works are expected to start on the Stockinbingal to Parkes section before the end of the year with works on the Albury to Illabo section expected to commence by mid-2024, pending final environmental and planning approvals.

Enhancement works on the Stockinbingal to Parkes and Albury to Illabo sections follow on from the successful completion of the Parkes to Narromine section of Inland Rail, which was completed in 2020. The new enhancements will enable double stacked trains to travel from Beveridge to Narromine by 2027.

Inland Rail is continuing to engage strongly with local suppliers and businesses across regional New South Wales, helping them to benefit from the Australian Government’s investment in Inland Rail.

Melvyn Maylin, Inland Rail Director of Program Delivery for Albury to Parkes, said:

“We are delighted to bring Martinus Rail on board to conduct the enhancement works on the Stockinbingal to Parkes and Albury to Illabo sections of Inland Rail, an extremely important milestone for our project.

“Although we are still working on securing our final environmental approvals, we are very much looking forward to starting work on Stockinbingal to Parkes and bringing Inland Rail to life in these very important sections.

“Most importantly we are also very excited about the benefits that we can bring to local business and suppliers in the Stockinbingal to Parkes and Albury to Illabo sections as we deliver our works there.

“As part of the Inland Rail program, $2.7 billion in contracts has already been awarded to over 400 suppliers and businesses across the country, with more local businesses between Albury and Parkes to benefit from the new opportunities and supporting jobs.”

Martinus Chief Operating Officer, Ryan Baden, said:

“This is an incredibly exciting time for the business and our people, a huge congrats to the team on winning this project, the Martinus team have created some fantastic design solutions which will leave long term benefits for these regional communities.

“This key infrastructure project will enable us to further invest in our people and their futures. Long term, it secures our vision of providing abundant opportunities for training and upskilling to address the skill-shortage across the industry and future-proof our business.

“As an Australian owned and operated business, we want to thank Inland Rail for entrusting us to undertake these works with the support from the local community. We look forward to celebrating many project milestones together over the next few years.”