Australia has recently announced the budget for 2017-2018 which includes over 450 initiatives in all important sectors of a nation from education to health, infrastructure, telecommunications, agriculture etc. Among these sectors, transport infrastructure projects play a major role, ensuring the mobility of passengers and that of freight. The importance and necessity of expanding railway networks, at either urban or regional level, is highlighted by the massive allocation of investments in the initiation, continuation or finalisation of projects.
Regarding the financial aspects of this programme, the Australian Government also announced the establishment of a Regional Growth Fund through which AUD 472 million (EUR 313,4 million) will be granted to regional infrastructure projects. Also, this fund will include AUD 272 million (EUR 180,6 million) for grants of over EUR 664,000 to large projects that support long-term growth. Additionally, a total of EUR 332 million will be allocated to the Building Better Regions Fund (BBRF) to contribute to infrastructure construction. The Regional Growth Fund is a new initiative of this budget within which BBRF financing will also be granted, the latter providing investments in eligible regional projects outside the capitals.
For the railway sector, the total budget until 2018 is AUD 20 billion (EUR 13,3 billion) to reduce congestion in cities and develop the regions. The investment includes AUD 10 billion (EUR 6,6 billion) for the National Railway Programme and AUD 8,4 billion (EUR 5,58 billion) for Inland Rail, the largest railway project in the last 100 years.
In Queensland, the government allocated a financing to carry on the planning of Cross River Rail, in North South Wales, the authorities collaborate to identify options for connecting by rail Western Sydney to Western Sydney Airport. The commitments of Australia’s Government include large projects such as Gold Coast Light Rail (Queensland), Forrestfield air – rail link, Flinders Link in Adelaide, Capital Metro in Canberra, Moorebank Intermodal Terminal in Sydney. The National Rail Program supports rail transport development in cities as the main element of establishing a sustainable city of urban recovery by also triggering real estate development, space use integration and the planning of the whole transport system.
The allocation of massive funds in rail transport development aims at shifting traffic to this sustainable transport mode, and while projects such as Forrestfield Airport Link (in Perth), Sydney Metro Northwest or Melbourne Metro aim at boosting capacity, there are new projects that focus on the rapid connection of suburban regions which currently don’t benefit from the railway infrastructure. Moreover, there are major projects in the advanced planning phase, such as Cross River Rail (in Brisbane), rail connections to Western Sydney and Western Sydney Airport that connects Melbourne city centre to Tullamarine Airport and extensions to the metropolitan network of Perth. The implementation of these projects has not been set yet, but works are expected to be launched in the next 5 to 10 years.
Australia’s largest cities are facing a major challenge which consists, mainly, of using the same railways for both freight and passenger transport. Although passenger transport comes first, traffic performance, for both segments, is diminished.
As part of the national programme, AUD 792 million (EUR 645,5 million) were allocated to Perth (Western Australia) – Metronet Strategy which includes five projects: two new circle routes (North and South Circle routes) and the extension of three lines: Clarkson, Armadale and Mandurah. Moreover, there is also the Forrestfield air-rail link project, a project of around EUR 2 billion consisting of the construction of 8,5 km of railway with three stations of which two in the underground. Works were launched at the end of 2016.
The same national programme, Western Australia will allocate over EUR 1 billion to speed up 17 new road and rail projects.
Victoria
In Victoria, in the rail transport segment, Australia’s Government focuses on the regional area of the country, granting an additional AUD 500 million (EUR 332 million) for the regional network and establishment of improved connections on the North-South, Gippsland, Geelong and Shepparton railways. A new project in Victoria is Melbourne air-rail link, EUR 20 million being allocated to the development of the business case.
Within the 2017/2018 budget, the authorities in Victoria announced the allocation of EUR 1.3 billion for the service stimulation project, Metro Tunnel, for large capacity trains and signalling, but also the elimination of 50 level crossings. The Regional Rail Revival programme has received a EUR 963 million financing for regional projects.
“This huge public transport Budget continues our revival of Victoria’s regional rail network,” Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan said.
EUR 73 million will be distributed to the Surf Coast Rail Upgrade project including the duplication of railways in Waurn Ponds and the reservation of lands for the construction of a new section to Torquay. The modernisation of Warrnambool railway received EUR 66,4 million, while EUR 64,4 million will be granted to permit the traffic of rapid trains in Ballarat and Ararat, Avon River Bridge, Stage 2. Other modernisation projects include Ballarat railway to Ararat, Avon River Bridge, Gippsland railway and North-East Line. The budget also stipulates EUR 206.6 million for the procurement of 39 Vlocity cars, the redesigning of existing trains to provide long-distance services including on the North-East Line. Also, EUR 8 million were allocated to rolling stock for the modernisation of V/Line trains. The state budget includes EUR 355 million for metropolitan public transport.
The most important rail project in Victoria is Melbourne Metro for which the whole financing worth AUD 11 billion (EUR 7,3 billion) was covered last year. The project is in the preparation phase and, in spring, three consortia expressed interest in building the railway and the stations: Continuum Victoria (Acciona Infrastructure, Ferrovial Agroman, Honeywell, Downer EDI and Plenary Origination), Cross Yarra Partnership (Lendlease Engineering, John Holland, Bouygues Construction and Capella Capital) and Moving Melbourne Together (Pacific Partnerships, CPB Contractors, Ghella, Salini Impregilo, Serco and Macquarie Capital). The winner, selected by the end of the year, will be in charge with the construction of 9 km of railway and 5 underground stations in Arden, Parkville, CBD North, CBD South and Domain.
Also, in Victoria, another federal financing, worth EUR 13,4 million, was allocated to Murray Basin Freight Rail project, including significant modernisation for standardisation and increasing axle loads on the lines that serve Murray Basin region, in the north-west of Victoria. With a total value of EUR 292 million, the project also benefits from a EUR 146 million financing from the state government. The project is implemented in three phases, of which the first one is already completed. The second phase includes the conversion of lines between Yelta and Maryborough, but also in Ouyen and Murrayville. According to estimates, works will be initiated as of August. This phase also includes the modernisation and opening of the 87-km Maryborough – Ararat railway which has been closed for a decade. Phase three includes works on Manangatang and Sea Lake railways expected to be launched in March 2018. The tender for these two phases was launched at the end of 2016 and the finalisation deadline is February 2017.
New South Wales
For New South Wales, railway projects are important as the authorities, just like in the other states, want to increase the market share of this transport mode and this objective could only be reached by extending the infrastructure, upgrading the existing railways and the modernisation of the rolling stock fleet.
Sydney Metro is the most ambitious project which includes the construction of 31 stations and 65 km of railways of which more than half will be built in the underground. The project will provide connections to all transport modes, including to the railway network of the city and of the state. The project is implemented in two phases: Northwest (36 km) for which the major contracts have been signed since 2013-2014, the tunnelling works being already completed. This section will become operational at the middle of 2019. City and Southwest is the second phase of the project which will be extended from the north-western region, under Sydney Harbour, through the underground central district (CBD) to south-west in Bankstown. 30-km railways will be built, operational as of 2024. As part of this phase, in May, Arcadis and its JV partner, Mott MacDonald, were announced as designers – leaders of METRON consortium won the contract for designing 6 stations. METRON consortium also includes Foster + Partners, local architect Architectus, and engineers Arcadis, Mott MacDonald and Robert Bird Group.
NSW carries out projects for the optimisation of passenger transport services by introducing new trains and buying rolling stock, the modernisation of the existing railway infrastructure, but also the construction of light rail networks in Sydney, Parramatta, Newcastle.
Queensland
Queensland’s railway development strategy focuses on providing the best level of strategic infrastructure availability, while investments in the rail network and individual projects are planned separately.
Cross River Rail is a project that will provide a new rail link of over 10 km served by 5 new stations between the suburbs of Brisbane capital (Dutton Park and Bowen Hills), also including the 6-km tunnel under Brisbane River and the CBD. The railway will release the transport network in south-east Queensland by eliminating agglomerations in Brisbane River region. This year, the government opened public consultations for the project estimated at over EUR 3 billion.
An important project for regional traffic was Redcliffe Peninsula Line (initially, Moreton Bay Rail Link), opened at the middle of 2016. It included the construction of 12.6 km of double line and 6 stations between Petrie and Kippa-Ring suburbs. It was included in the EUR 800 million programme on investments in public transport optimisation for Moreton Bay Region, financed by the federal and the state governments, but also by the local council. The railway was necessary as over 80% of those travelling to work use motorised transport and therefore, a train travelling on this railway could eliminate 600 cars.
At present, QueenslandRail develops a series of projects on infrastructure modernisation and development, including Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 2 expected to be operational starting with 2018. The project consists of the construction of a 7.3-km line with three stations from Helensvale, adjacent to Gold Coast Line and Smith Street Motorway to connect to Stage 1 section through University Hospital station. Last year, CPB Contractors announced the winner of the EUR 279 million contract financed by the federal and the local government and Gold Coast City Council. The value of the project is AUD 420 million (USD 321 million), with the Queensland Government investing 270 million (USD 206.4 million), AUD 95 million (USD 72.6 million) from the Australian Government and AUD 55 million (USD 42 million) from the City of Gold Coast Council.
Kick-start for Inland Rail
Through the 2017-2018 budget, the Australian Government met its commitment to finalise the Inland Rail project by allocating EUR 5,6 billion. The railway will complete Australia’s rail freight network linking Melbourne to Brisbane through Regional Victoria, News South Wales and Queensland. This is the largest rail infrastructure project dedicated to Australia’s freight traffic and estimated to become operational in 2024-2025. The total length of the line will be 1700 km, of which 1,200 km are the existing lines to be upgraded or rehabilitated, while 500 km will be built in the three states. Where possible, the existing infrastructure will be used to minimise the impact on the environment and on the community associated with the establishment of new corridors. The new railway will reduce the travel time by 10 hours compared to the coast network through Sydney, while the transit time will help reduce costs in the supply chain by 10 dollars/tonne for the cargo shipped between Melbourne and Brisbane.
In April, the federal government announced that two new bridges will be built (between Parkes and Narromine) to support the beginning of Inland Rail construction. “As well as improving part of the existing rail line that connects the national interstate rail networks, these new bridges will be part of the Inland Rail route when it is constructed,” Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester said.
This article was published in the June issue of the Railway PRO Magazine that analyses the latest and most important railway projects around the world.
by Pamela Luica
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