A $13 million contract has been awarded to Laing O\u2019Rourke by the New South Wales Government for the construction of a rail siding at Wumbulgal in the Riverina. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project will deliver a 1,500-metre, multi-user rail siding between Griffith and Leeton, and work is set to begin later this month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The siding will allow trains up to 1.5 kilometres long to load, park or pass others without disrupting the main line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is intended to boost capacity and improve efficiency on the track section between Coolamon and Griffith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Designed to be accessible to any rail operator, it will address a major rail bottleneck where grain trains can currently take up to eight hours to load, blocking the main line and preventing other trains from passing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A spokesperson for Transport for NSW said the siding is a \u201cmajor step forward\u201d for reliability for freight services across the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The upgrade also sets the groundwork for future connection into the proposed Western Riverina Connect (WR Connect) intermodal freight terminal, a project being developed by Griffith and Leeton councils. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This $13 million investment builds on the NSW Government\u2019s recent $60 million, 25-tonne axle-load upgrade across 174 kilometres of track between Junee and Griffith, and an $8 million 1,500-metre siding extension at Coolamon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Member for Murray Helen Dalton said she was happy to see the government investing in an open access rail and road freight facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe siding and internodal will not only improve safety, but productivity and efficiencies in partnership with the world\u2019s largest freight company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe government and MEDLOG are committing to affordable, open access to all train truck companies which is a significant improvement for business and industry in the Riverina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Wumbulgal rail siding addresses a key freight bottleneck, cutting grain loading times and stimulating investment in faster loading infrastructure. It\u2019s a major win for Riverina producers and the wider regional economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rail Express<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The siding and internodal will not only improve safety, but productivity and efficiencies in partnership with the world\u2019s largest freight company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":257183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[17555,17556,5026,2139,17557],"class_list":["post-257182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rail-news","tag-griffith","tag-leeton","tag-nsw","tag-sydney","tag-wumbulgal"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t