The Inland Rail is a 1,700-kilometre rail line connecting Melbourne to Brisbane for the purpose of transporting freight. It will bypass the Sydney metropolitan area, but connect to the Sydney–Perth rail corridor, reducing journey times between Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
The cost of delivering the project has blown out to $31.4 billion, according to a new report, which warns the price tag may climb even higher because it is still unclear where the line “will start or finish”. Two years ago, the estimate was $16.4 billion.
More than $2 billion has already been spent on the project which aims to meet growing freight demands on the populous east coast.
The completion of Inland Rail has the potential to dramatically lower rail freight costs for the interstate movement of shipping containers by at least 25% on the Melbourne-Brisbane route. This is huge, and has the potential to triple rail’s share of freight on this route from the current 10% or so to at least 30%.
The federal government appointed Australia’s former Energy Security Board chair to scrutinise the controversial Inland Rail project. The chairperson, Dr Kerry Schott, led the review and found the board managing the project did “not have adequate skills” and there had not been a “substantive” chief executive in nearly two years.
The review found that ARTC board appointments “did not reflect the skills required to govern either freight rail operations or a major infrastructure project”.
The initial proposal for the route was to connect the rail yard at Tottenham, Victoria with the freight yards at Acacia Ridge in Queensland. However, as well as governance issues, Dr Schott noted the route itself had yet to be finalised, despite the fact construction began in 2018 and was slated to end in 2027.
“Somewhat surprisingly, the project has commenced delivery without knowing where it will start or finish.” Dr Schott said.
The end goal of the project will see freight move from Melbourne to Brisbane in 24 hours or less. Some of the country’s most frequented roads are clogged with trucks transporting goods. Both the state and federal governments, who are working together in a bilateral arrangement to fund the project, are hoping it will give Australia an economic boost. It is being overseen by the government-owned Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC).
Mr Peter Duncan AM, Chair of the ARTC Board, released a note on their website today (06 April 2023) stating “ARTC notes the findings of the Independent Review and the Government’s response and is committed to working closely with the Australian Government to implement those recommendations.
“We understand there is a high level of interest from staff, customers, contracting partners and community to understand the Recommendations in more detail and we will work hard to provide more information in coming days.”
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