The Australian Government is seeking a technical advisor to realise its ambition to build a new 1,700-kilometre rail freight line between Melbourne and Brisbane.
Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss has announced the publication of a national tender to provide Technical Advisory and Engineering Services for the Inland Rail project.
A recent report estimated the total cost of the Inland Rail line at $10 billion. The project will take 10 years to complete and will involve the construction of 600 kilometres of new railway.
Initially, the line will be served by 1,800-metre, double-stacked trains.
Truss said: “Inland Rail is now very much in the planning and environmental approvals phase.
“The company that is chosen to deliver Technical Advisory and Engineering Services for Inland Rail will provide a team of experts to guide the engineering requirements for the project.”
He added: “The freight corridor from Melbourne to Brisbane is vital to our national economy. It already generates commodity exports worth more than $260 billion each year. Freight movements along this corridor will treble over the next two decades.
“Inland rail will connect south east Queensland directly by rail to Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth avoiding the need for freight to move through the congested Sydney network.
“It will reduce the distance between Melbourne and Brisbane by 200 km and carve 500 km from the Brisbane to Perth trip.”
