SEVERAL railway bridges in Mitchell Shire will be either replaced or modified to make way for the arrival of the double stack container super trains that will run on the Inland Rail network.
The rail Bridge at Wandong and three bridges in Broadford at Hamilton and Short streets and on Marchbanks Road are impacted. There will also be infrastructure enhancements to the Hume Highway at Tallarook and to the Seymour-Avenel Road Bridge and Hume Highway at Seymour.
The double stacked freight trains will be 1.8 kilometres long and will carry double stacked containers from the Tottenham freight terminal in Melbourne to Albury and ultimately on to Brisbane.
There are around 60 sites in Victoria that will be either replaced or modified along the Inland Rail that is being constructed by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC).
The ARTC is currently looking at options to provide the clearances required in Wandong and Broadford.
A spokesperson for the ARTC told the North Central Review that Tottenham to Albury section of the Inland Rail project is one of 13 projects that complete Inland Rail.
“This section of Inland Rail is planned along 305km of existing rail corridor from metropolitan Melbourne to the Victoria-NSW border at Albury-Wodonga. The project will see enhancements of existing structures and increased clearances along the rail corridor,” he said.
The ARTC is holding an information night at the Broadford Golf Club tomorrow (Wednesday, July 25) from 6pm to 8pm.
It is believed that ARTC staff have already spoken with impacted property owners in Wandong regarding the replacement of the existing bridge.
Project works include track lowering in over 20 places, potential road or pedestrian bridge modifications or replacements where the track can’t be lowered and signal structure modifications at around 20 sites.
To date the ARTC has undertaken preliminary field studies such as ecology and geotechnical studies to gain an understanding of the existing environmental features, technical challenges and opportunities.
ARTC shares the rail corridor with V/Line’s passenger operations, the Sydney-Melbourne XPT, and suburban trains closer to Melbourne.
Locally the Inland Rail project is currently at the feasibility and consultation stage. Construction is expected to commence on section of the project in Queensland this year with the double stack freight trains up and running by 2025.
