Alliance partners start $200m Sydney-Brisbane rail works

A joint venture between Barclay Mowlem and Balfour Beatty will tackle more than $200m worth of upgrades to the worst performing sector of the Australian Rail Track Corporation's interstate network, the track between Sydney and Brisbane.

The work – ARTC's third alliance arrangement for its $1.4bn network program – will slash transit times for 1500m super freighters from 19 hr 22 min to 15 hr 30 min, ARTC chief executive David Marchant said.

It will also improve reliability on the sector from its historical 45% to around 95% – which means services arriving within 15 minutes of its scheduled time, he said.

One of the most important changes for the freight industry will be the ability to consistently run 1500m trains. Although some can presently run on the sector, the lack of passing loops and other limitations meant most trains were in the 700 to 900m range, he said.

“That's not economic,” Marchant said. “Historically, it [Sydney-Brisbane] is the worst performing part of the network.”

Low average speeds of about 30 to 40 km/h have also been a key factor in the route's poor performance and ARTC is confident average train speed can be raised to 80km/h with top speeds of around 110km/h.

Barclay Mowlem managing director David Hudson said ARTC should be congratulated taking on the task of rebuilding rail freight.

“I think it's a nation-building task,” he said.

The alliance arrangement was an important step for a project of this scale as it would enable the best use of resources in an environment where skills shortages was an issue.

The works Barclay Mowlem and Balfour Beatty will undertake includes:

• 15 new 1500m crossing loops;

• Upgrading 18 existing crossing loops;

• Concrete sleeper installation on tighter curves;

• Level crossing and bridge upgrades; and

• Rail condition improvements to minimise maintenance costs.

The work will start this quarter and should be complete by late 2008

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Alliance partners start $200m Sydney-Brisbane rail works

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