Monday 31 July 2017
The $440m Murray Basin Rail Project is steaming ahead with Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister and The Nationals MP for Gippsland Darren Chester announcing Stage 2 construction works will begin today.
Stage 2 works on the project – which has been proudly driven by Victoria’s National Party MPs – will see upgrades and conversion of track from Dunolly to Yelta and Ouyen to Murrayville from broad gauge to standard gauge.
Leader of The Nationals Peter Walsh welcomed the project’s progress after the Andrews Labor Government initially stalled works.
Mr Walsh said the Basin Rail Project would deliver critical upgrades to provide better rail access between the Murray Basin and Victoria’s major ports at Portland Geelong and Melbourne.
“This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to standardise and repair freight rail in western and northern Victoria and make it more efficient for farmers to get their product to port “ Mr Walsh said.
“The Nationals’ State and Federal MPs are proud to have secured and delivered the $440 million needed to deliver this vital upgrade for north-west Victoria.”
The former Victorian Liberal Nationals government got the project underway in 2014 with a $220 million allocation and the Federal Liberal Nationals Government delivered the final $220 million needed in April 2017.
Member for Mildura Peter Crisp said farmers in Victoria’s north-west would benefit from increased maximum freight volumes which will see more efficient transport of agricultural products to port.
“The Murray Basin Rail Project will take trucks off our country roads and provide a more efficient way to transport our products to port “ Mr Crisp said.
“The Nationals at the State and Federal levels have worked hard to secure this Project and I am pleased to see it take the next step forward in better connecting our agricultural communities in north-west Victoria with the rest of the world.”