THE inland rail will drive economic development and have the effect of “making projects viable that may not be now because of the cost of logistics”, Regional Development Australia (RDA) Orana chairman John Walkom says.
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Mr Walkom is anticipating the creation of “new opportunities” and the potential for more infrastructure arising from the planned project to link Melbourne and Brisbane.
Earlier this month the federal government made a $594 million budget commitment to purchasing the inland rail’s land “corridor”, another stage in the project costed at $10.7 billion.
The path of the 1700 kilometres of rail track across three states takes in Parkes and Narromine.
The budget announcement was met with enthusiasm by Mr Walkom, who works with communities in a 199,000-square kilometre area, that takes in Dubbo and 12 other local government areas.
“It opens up our region because of that connectivity it creates,” he said.
“Getting goods to port - businesses can look at opportunities to set up along the corridor to manufacture and distribute their goods along eastern Australia.”
He suggested it could lead to other infrastructure being built.
“Possibly air freight, both inbound and outbound because you have that connectivity,” he said.
“The ease to do business, the increase in productivity and the decrease in costs of transport are amazing.
“If you talk to the agribusiness sector, they only too well understand the cost to move things.”
The RDA Orana chairman looked forward to the opportunities that could also be available during the construction phase of the inland rail.
“Our region fortunately has a ready, skilled workforce in terms of rail infrastructure because of what we already have,” Mr Walkom said, listing the Sydney, Newcastle and Cobar lines.
The government expects the inland rail will address the “freight challenge” by reducing the number of trucks travelling the entire length of the corridor by the equivalent of more than 200 B-doubles each day by 2050.
Mr Walkom counted the inland rail’s potential to move trucks off highways as another significant benefit of the project.
“We’ve all heard about the demand road transport will place on the Newell so this will certainly help alleviate that,” he said.
Mr Walkom predicted “in another decade I think we will be able to say the inland rail is up and running, isn’t that great”.
“We look forward to seeing it completed and the sooner it happens the better for regional areas and their economic development - because it will drive economic development,” he said.