The arrival of Inland Rail has been a boon for local workers on the Inland Rail alignment in regional Australia, with a further 650 local residents working on the Inland Rail project in 2023, taking the total number of local residents that have worked on the project to 2,150 workers.
Inland Rail has also continued to work closely with First Nations communities on the Inland Rail alignment, with total numbers of First Nations workers on the project increasing to nearly 700 at end-December, up from 630 workers at end-2022.
In 2023, Inland Rail also awarded a further $6 million in contracts to First Nations businesses, taking total spend with 27 First Nations businesses across the alignment to just short of $40 million since 2018.
In terms of overall expenditure with local businesses, Inland Rail spent a further $74 million with local businesses in 2023, bringing total expenditure with just over 500 local businesses to nearly $410 million since 2018 across the Inland Rail alignment on the Parkes to Narromine, Beveridge to Albury, Narrabri to North Star and Stockinbingal to Parkes sections.
These local companies have provided a range of services including office fit out, accommodation and catering, workforce training, equipment supply, earthworks, signage, waste services, hardware supplies, plant and equipment hire, electrical and plumbing services and fencing.
Inland Rail expenditure with local companies will expand over the next three years with construction between Parkes, New South Wales and Beveridge, Victoria prioritised for completion by 2027. Contractors Martinus Rail and McConnell Dowell are already well underway building the Stockinbingal to Parkes and Beveridge to Albury sections, currently valued at more than $600 million.
The Albury to Illabo section is progressing through environmental approvals and a construction contract for the final eight sites in Victoria is expected to be awarded in mid-2024.
