The Albury to Illabo section of the Inland Rail project consists of upgrade works to structures and sections of track along 185 km of existing operational rail corridor from the Victorian/New South Wales border to Illabo in regional NSW.
The project will provide enough clearance of the existing ‘Main South Line’ corridor to operate up to 1,800 m long and 6.5 m high trains and support the safe running of double-stacked freight trains.
Up to $300.8 million is being invested to make the upgrades for this section of the rail line and the project is expected to create up to 770 new jobs.
The project will include upgrades to:
- rail tracks
- footbridges and road bridges
- overhead structures
- signal structures
- level crossings.
Works will take place on the existing track from Albury to Illabo. This track passes through the towns of Albury, Culcairn, Henty, Yerong Creek, The Rock, Uranquinty, Wagga Wagga and Junee. View the project map.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) prepared a Preferred Infrastructure Report (PIR) which included updated traffic, noise and air quality assessments of the proposal. The PIR was on public exhibition from 15 November to 6 December 2023.
What happens next
The NSW Government has approved the Albury to Illabo section of the 1,600 km Inland Rail project between Brisbane and Melbourne. The project is on track for the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to begin construction in south-western NSW in early 2025.
The project’s approval includes conditions that relate to traffic monitoring and management, noise management, air quality monitoring, and refinement of bridge designs to resolve heritage and urban design impacts. For more information on the determination and conditions of approval visit Major Projects.
For more information on the Albury to Illabo section of the Inland Rail project go to:
To download a map which provides an overview of each section of the project between Melbourne and Brisbane, go to Inland Rail.