‘Astonishing’: Inland Rail doubles in cost to $31 billion, won’t be finished this decade
A damning report has found Queensland is holding up the construction of the Inland Rail project, which has seen costs blow out to a whopping $31 billion in the past two years alone.
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Queensland is holding up the Inland Rail, which has doubled in cost to $31 billion in the past two years alone and will not be finalised this decade despite previous promises, a damning new report has found.
The 68-page report revealed a range of issues in Queensland, including the yet-to-be finalised route and a “poor-quality” environmental report, which will mean the 1700km rail project will be finished in the state four years after work is completed in NSW and Victoria.
In a withering assessment, cost blowouts and delays were blamed on the Australian Rail Track Corporation’s “underdeveloped” plan in 2020, which required “major additions” to it as it progressed.
The report noted it is now predicted to be finished in the “early 2030s”, rather than 2027, but even this time frame should be “treated with great caution”.
Slow approvals in the Queensland sections, as well as the Narromine to Narrabri section in NSW, were found to be responsible for $12 billion in cost blow outs.
Transport Minister Catherine King blasted the handling of the Inland Rail so far as “shameful”.
The report made 19 recommendations, including further analysis of the costs and time frame, deal with approval delays and hire an independent specialist to review the design solutions.
Report author and respected Australian executive Kerry Schott expressed “surprise” construction on the Inland Rail started “without knowing where it will start or finish”.
“There is little doubt that the major task of delivering this project was greatly underestimated by (Australian Rail Track Corporation) and by the former Government,” Ms Schott said in the report.
“While several sections are quite advanced, this is not true for most sections.
“The Queensland sections are causing the most issues at present for a number of reasons.”
Those reasons included the agreement between the Commonwealth and Queensland Government on the Inland Rail being later than NSW and Victoria, as well as the ARTC’s “poor-quality” environmental impact statement which was “not capable of acceptance” by the state government.
The report noted approval processes in Queensland were improving but this had to continue to stop further delays in the state.
Planning approvals and land acquisition cannot go ahead until that statement is finalised.
Ms Schott also backed in Ebenezer in Ipswich as the final destination in Queensland, ahead of the previously-mooted Acacia Ridge.
Ms King said the report was an indictment for the Coalition’s approach.
“To leave a project without a start or end point, with a significant budget blowout, and a board without the skills it required is shameful,” she said.
“They have let down communities and businesses which have already invested time, effort and money in the prospect of Inland Rail.”
She said the Albanese Government would address the issues in a prudent and responsible way.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the doubling of the cost was “astonishing”.
“For the former Government to ignore obligations to ensure the ARTC was properly governed is delinquent,” she said.
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