The Australian government’s Department of Infrastructure and Transport has announced the opening of a new AUD1 billion ($1.05 billion) Southern Sydney Freight Line by Australian Rail Track Corporation Limited (ARTC) in Sydney, Australia.
The new Southern Sydney Freight Line is a 36km long line between Macarthur and Chullora, which is anticipated to reduce congestion on Sydney Rail Network. The new line will alleviate the traffic bottleneck in the Sydney area, speed up the movement of trains through Sydney and will improve the overall competitiveness and reliability of the Australia’s Interstate Rail Freight Network.
The new line is located in the South of Sydney and complements the work, which is being undertaken to upgrade the rail corridor through the city’s northern suburbs to Newcastle, as well as, the line to Port Botany. The project will also aid in the development of a proposed intermodal at Moorebank.
The additional work as a part of the project involved access improvement at the Leumeah, Minto, Cabramatta, Sefton, Warwick Farm and Casula train stations. These stations also received new or improved amenities such as car parks, bus shelters, lighting, awnings, ramps, footpaths and cycling paths. The access improvement part of the project was undertaken in partnership with RailCorp.
The construction of the Southern Sydney Freight Line was completed in a span of four and a half years and created about 500 jobs per year in the region. The project was funded by ARTC. The final stage of the development was completed in partnership with Leighton Contractors.
John Fullerton, CEO of ARTC, said: “The SSFL is the single biggest project ARTC has ever delivered and is part of our record $3 billion capital works program which is making the Melbourne to Brisbane freight route an even more attractive option for Australian businesses.”