Inland Rail track possession works push the project forward in Victoria
Inland Rail’s 60-hour track possession on the Beveridge to Albury section of the project has been hailed a success, with major construction partners completing work across multiple sites and re-opening the railway line to rail services on Monday evening.
March 25, 2025
During the possession, work was carried out at Wangaratta, Euroa, Benalla, Tallarook, Seymour, Wandong and Broadford.
At Wangaratta, the railway station pedestrian underpass was completed and opened to the public and the nearby Docker St footbridge was dismantled.
The Benalla signal box was removed, with care taken to salvage key items such as the signal frame, and the railway station power supply was relocated.
To ensure the Birkett Street level crossing can support the detour traffic when the Anderson Street bridge is closed in Euroa, work was carried out to widen sections of the approach roads, replace existing ballast, sleepers and rail, and relocate and upgrade the level crossing.
Work at Euroa, Victoria, during the March 2025 track possession.
Geotechnical works, vegetation removal and the installation of safety barriers and fencing took place on the Broadford, Wandong and Hume Freeway sites to prepare for major construction later in the year.
Beveridge to Albury Tranche 2 construction partner, John Holland confirmed:
- 2,607m2 of soil was excavated
- 886 linear metres of fencing and concrete barriers were installed
- 800 metres of cable was commissioned
- 110 metres of new rail was installed
- 170 new sleepers were installed
- 41 pieces of monitoring equipment were installed
- two boom gates and two flashing lights were installed
- six redundant power poles were removed.
Inland Rail and its construction partners completed the possession work when rail services were suspended from 7am Saturday 22 March to 7pm Monday 24 March.
In Victoria, Inland Rail is upgrading 262km of existing track between Beveridge and Albury to provide sufficient height and width clearances to allow double-stacked freight trains to use the line.
Ed Walker, Inland Rail Delivery Director Beveridge to Albury said:
“The B2A possession was an outstanding success. We completed the work safely within the 60-hour shutdown period and re-opened the track to rail services on Monday evening.
“We only get two major track possessions a year, so they are critically important for the completion of the project.
“A lot of planning takes place, so we can complete a large volume of work in a short period and keep the disruption of the rail line to a minimum.
“We apologise for the disruptions and thank local communities for their patience and understanding as we carry out the work.”
