Contractors have now been selected to conduct a study into the recommissioning of sections of tier three freight rail lines in Western Australia.
Agonis Group and Jacobs Australia will conduct the study into Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region freight infrastructure, which will aim to provide clarity on the engineering, economic and network potential of recommissioning sections of the tier three Narrogin-Kulin-Wickepin rail lines.
Agonis Group will deliver a capital cost estimation of recommissioning the lines, while Jacobs Australia will deliver an economic assessment of the project and collate all study components into a final report.
Key stakeholders will be consulted as part of the study, including local shires, rail and road freight operators, local grain and export commodity producers, and community members.
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$72 million will be allocated to conduct the study, which forms part of the first package of the $200 million Agricultural Supply Chain Improvement Program, jointly funded by the Western Australian and Commonwealth governments.
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the study would ensure that funding decision could be made based on feedback from the community and other industries.
“The Narrogin-Kulin-Wickepin tier three Recommissioning Study will give us the valuable data and insights we need to make informed decisions about this investment in the region’s freight network,” Saffioti said.
“It will give us clear advice on what it will take to get rail freight services back into this area, which currently lacks access to the efficient WA rail freight network.”