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Australian Rail Track Corporation Ltd (ARTC) will install 61,732 timber sleepers this financial year on its Western rail corridor between Kinalung and Broken Hill in a project valued at $8.27 million, David Marchant CEO of ARTC announced today
“ARTC will begin negotiations immediately for the supply of the timber sleepers now that the project has received Board approval.” David Marchant said.
This program for timber resleepering is required as the current timber sleepers are at the end of their life and their replacement is required as soon as possible
ARTC’s strategy is to improve track condition and ride quality for operators by resleepering and the installation of resilient fastenings on all newly installed timber sleeper, along with rail grinding, weld straightening and resurfacing.
The resleepering program for the Western corridor forms part of ARTC’s improvement program for the first 5 years of its 60 year Lease of the NSW interstate network.
The resleepering work will be carried out by the ARTC Resleepering Team and Local Teams with work already commenced on the 28 km of track being resleepered between Ivanhoe and Broken Hill. Work is expected be completed on this section in early February 2007.
The full resleepering program will include new timber sleepers with resilient fastenings on the Western Route (Wirrinya- Goobang-Broken Hill) and on the Inland route (Goobang- Narromine- Dubbo).
Between Dubbo- Merrygoen and Gulgong, (with Goobang to Gulgong not being part of the defined interstate network) it is proposed to utilise steel sleepers between Dubbo and Gulgong to achieve a strict 1 in 2 steel sleeper pattern on the current 1 in 4 steel sleeper arrangement. Clustered steel sleepers with more than 2 steel sleepers in a row will be removed as part of the resleepering operation.
The rail line between Parkes and Broken Hill is the main standard gauge line servicing rail from central and western NSW and Queensland to South Australia and Western Australia. It forms a fundamental pat of Australia’s interstate standard gauge rail connection.
ARTC manages and maintains the NSW interstate and inland network and under its $2 billion North South Investment Program is to reduce transit time, while increasing reliability, capacity and above and below rail yield.
Contact David Marchant 0419 733 201
Prue Regan 02 82590716 or 0419 297 004