Inland Rail and Regional Rail Revival Agreements Reached
22 March 2018
Victorian Government:
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for
Infrastructure and Transport Michael McCormack and Victorian Minister
for Public Transport and Major Projects Jacinta Allan have today signed
a Bilateral Agreement in relation to
Inland
Rail, making
Victoria the first state to sign up to the Inland Rail project.
This agreement includes a commitment to negotiate a new long term lease
with the
Australian Rail Track Corporation and to support the extension
of the corridor to accommodate any changes to the
North East Rail Line
alignment required to support the delivery of Inland Rail.
On completion, the Inland Rail Project will create a direct
rail freight
connection between
Melbourne and
Brisbane capable of moving double stacked freight containers. Inland
Rail will deliver almost $7 billion in additional state gross product
through construction and in the first 50 years of operation.
Mr McCormack said this was a great step forward on a project that will
create
jobs and investment opportunities throughout regional Victoria.
Im pleased to reach agreement with Victoria, the first state to get
behind Inland Rail which will improve freight travel times for local
farmers and producers and support thousands of jobs, Mr McCormack said.
Once complete, Inland Rail will create thousands of jobs nationwide and
return $16 billion to the national economy during the delivery phase and
the first 50 years of operation.
While the Inland Rail Project is a freight project, both governments
acknowledge the North East Rail Line is currently used for both
passenger and freight services and that this mixed use is intended to
continue.
Victorian Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan thanked the Deputy
Prime Minister for acting quickly to release the funds which will
provide much needed upgrades to every regional rail line, through the
Regional Rail Revival program.
I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for acting quickly, so we can now get
on with the job of upgrading track, stations and signalling throughout
regional Victoria, to run modern trains and get people home sooner, Ms
Allan said.
Now an agreement on Inland Rail has been reached, money for the $1.7
billion Regional Rail Revival program will begin to be delivered to
Victoria.
The works will be delivered under the Regional Rail Revival Program that
will provide an upgrade to every regional passenger rail line in
Victoria.
Planning and defining the scope of works has already begun to ensure
these projects meet the transport needs of passengers and regional
communities, and the Victorian and Australian Governments reaching
agreement on the first stage of works, with some work already underway.
As part of the Regional Rail Revival program, a joint
Victorian
Government and Commonwealth Government steering committee was
established to look at the work needed to upgrade the North East Line.
The steering committee resolved the $100 million committed was not
enough to upgrade the track to run new modern trains, therefore the
Commonwealth Government will contribute an additional $135 million to
upgrade the track to at least a class 2 standard.
I am also pleased that in addition to the $1.57 billion Regional Rail
Revival package, the Commonwealth will increase its contribution by $135
million to upgrade the North East Rail Line to a class 2 standard to
allow faster, modern trains and give communities along the North East
line the services they expect and deserve, Ms Allan said.
The Victorian Government has committed to purchase new trains for the
corridor once works on the track are complete.
The Regional Rail Revival program will deliver more frequent, reliable
services and will support over 1000 jobs.
--ENDS--
Source: Victorian Government - www.premier.vic.gov.au
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