Rail Upgrade Contract Awarded

At last, theres movement at the station...

A multi-million dollar contract for a major upgrading of the Tasmanian rail network has been awarded.
The Minister for Infrastructure, Graeme Sturges, said today that the contract, worth more than $30 million, would cover the replacement of 20 kilometres of rail and 140,000 sleepers.
“The successful contractor, Queensland Rail (QR Ltd), will team with Tasmanian-based contractor, Van Ek Contracting, to complete this contract,” Mr Sturges said.
“The planning work will get underway within two weeks with site works expected to get under way in November.
“The bulk of the site works will be completed by the latter half of 2009 in a 12-month contract.”
Mr Sturges said that the contract was tangible evidence of the Government’s determination to ensure that rail freight remained a viable option in Tasmania.
“The contract also offers significant value-adding in re-establishing rail skilled workers in Tasmania for the future.
“The contract is part of the capital works program funded by the Australian Government under the rail rescue package. All expenditure of funding under the package is administered by the State Government.
“The Government remains committed to the $122 million rail rescue package to upgrade rail infrastructure in Tasmania because we believe there is a positive future for rail transport in this State,” Mr Sturges said.