The Inland Rail is a freight rail line connection between Melbourne and Brisbane.
The route will be approximately 1,700km in length and include over 1,000km of major upgrades and enhancements and 600km of new track via regional Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
Comprising 13 individual projects, seven of which are based in NSW, Inland Rail is the largest freight rail infrastructure project in Australia. The route involves:
- using the existing interstate rail line through Victoria and southern NSW
- upgrading about 400km of existing track, mainly in western NSW
- providing about 600km of new track, mainly in western and north-western NSW, and south-east Queensland.
The Inland Rail proposal aims to complete the backbone of the national freight network by providing for a transit time of 24 hours or less for freight trains between Melbourne and Brisbane.
Below you will find links to project-specific pages for the parts of Inland Rail that have obtained planning approval or are currently progressing through the planning assessment process.
The Albury to Illabo section of Inland Rail consists of upgrade works to 185km of existing rail corridor from the Victoria/NSW border to Illabo in regional New South Wales.
186km of upgraded track and 2.3km of new track between the towns of Narrabri and North Star, via Moree.
A new section of rail, made up of approximately 306km of new track.
Construction and operation of a 30km rail corridor between North Star and the NSW/Queensland Border, including a new rail track of approximately 25km.
106km of upgraded track and 5.3km of new rail track at Parkes, to connect to the Broken Hill railway line.