In what is described as a "major milestone" construction contractor INLink has taken possession of the existing track between Goonumbla to Narwonah, located just over 10 kilometres south of Narromine.

Rail construction works will continue into 2020.

The possession enables the project team to start safely upgrading the existing infrastructure to Inland Rail standard in preparation for heavier, longer freight trains to travel between Melbourne and Brisbane when the Inland Rail is in operation, expected in 2025.

Project Director for the Parkes to Narromine section, Colin Forde, described the handover as "an important milestone".

"With around 1200km of the Inland Rail project between Melbourne and Brisbane utilising existing track and rail corridors, there will be many more staged possessions as the project progresses to enable workers to carry out construction in the rail corridor safely," Mr Forde said.

“With Inland Rail accelerating in the Central West, it’s great to see 60 workers from INLink already working on the Parkes to Narromine section and the benefits of Inland Rail flowing to the local community,” he said.

The possession milestone follows the official sod turn for Inland Rail in Parkes on December 13, 2018, which marked the start of work on the 5.3 kilometres of new rail track called the North–West Connection. This will join the existing Broken Hill Line to the existing rail track south of the Henry Parkes Way. 

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Ongoing work on the Parkes to Narromine corridor includes new and rehabilitated track formation, culvert, rail, concrete sleepers, crossing loops, signalling/control systems.  

INLink is a joint venture between BMD Group and Fulton Hogan and was appointed to construct the Parkes to Narromine section in 2018.

Granting of the track possession is a process that allows work crews to access the rail corridor safely and undertake construction works while no trains are operating. 

Anyone with questions about Inland Rail can call 1800 732 761.

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