Inland Rail. Credit: ARTC

Plenary consortium preferred for Inland Rail

Published 22 March 2022

QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA: The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has appointed Regionerate Rail, a consortium comprising Plenary Group, Clough, GS Engineering and Construction, Webuild (formerly Salini Impregilo) and Service Stream to develop the Gowrie to Kagaru section of the Inland Rail project, a significant milestone for the project.

The Gowrie to Kagaru section is approximately 128 kilometres of new and upgraded rail track through the most geographically challenging section of the 1,700-kilometre rail line between Brisbane and Melbourne and includes a 6.2-kilometre tunnel through the Great Dividing Range, which will be the largest diameter freight tunnel in the southern hemisphere.

Being delivered as a public-private partnership, the contract will also include a 25-year maintenance phase post construction.

ARTC Inland Rail Interim Chief Executive Rebecca Pickering said the decision to select Regionerate Rail followed a two-year process with the best of international expertise competing to be part of the project.

“This landmark agreement is huge for Inland Rail and puts billions of dollars in stimulus, jobs and long-term economic growth on the table for Queensland – through construction, Inland Rail is expected to support more than 11,800 jobs and deliver a $7.8 billion boost to the state’s economy during construction and the over the forward operations,” Mrs Pickering said.

“This is an important step. Regionerate Rail has been able to leverage its considerable engineering expertise to produce truly innovative design and construction methods for this technically challenging project.

“I am looking forward to seeing their solution become a reality. This project is a game-changer for the way we will deliver freight around the nation and during the past two years we have been reminded time and time again how important our future supply chains are.”

Plenary CEO David Lamming said Plenary was proud to be part of the consortium selected to deliver such an iconic public-private partnership.

“We look forward to working closely with ARTC to finalise the contract details and delivering our part of what is arguably the most important freight infrastructure project in Australia," Mr Lamming said.

“Inland Rail is a once-in-a generation project that will transform how goods are moved around Australia that will enhance supply chains and complete the backbone of Australia’s national freight network.

“All Regionerate Rail members are committed to working in partnership with ARTC to deliver a faster, more reliable and cost-effective rail link that better connects business and communities to domestic and export markets.”

View the ARTC announcement.

 

Chris Whitefield

Executive Director, Communications
+61 3 8888 7754
+61 418 530 806
chris.whitefield@plenary.com