Martinus Rail offers 60 lucrative apprenticeships as Inland Rail project moves into Qld

Sixty new apprenticeships will be included in a massive employment drive by a southside family-operated company which hopes to cash in on the Inland Rail project.

A southside family-operated company, specialising in large-scale rail systems, hopes to cash in on the Inland Rail project and has put out a call to locals ahead of track construction starting in Queensland.

Martinus Rail, based at Rocklea, hopes to hire 600 local people, including 60 apprentices, to work on 570km of Inland Rail track between Narromine in New South Wales and Gowrie in Queensland.

The Martinus contract with Australian Rail Track Corporation is for laying 1 million concrete sleepers, 80,000 tonnes of steel rail and 1.7 million tonnes of ballast with apprentices eligible to study at TAFE while working.

The company already has a team of more than 1000 across the two states but with the unemployment rate in Logan and Beaudesert at historic lows training new staff for the massive project was necessary.

The Martinus contract with Australian Rail Track Corporation is for laying 1 million concrete sleepers, 80,000 tonnes of steel rail and 1.7 million tonnes of ballast with apprentices eligible to study at TAFE while working.

On the weekend, another contractor was announced when Regionerate Rail consortium was named the preferred bidder for 128km of rail track and a 6.2km tunnel through the Toowoomba Range.

Unemployment in Logan and Beaudesert was 8.5 per cent in January, only slightly up from 8.4 per cent, seasonally adjusted, a year ago,

Martinus chief executive Treaven Martinus said Inland Rail would give local jobseekers the chance to get training and work but still live in southeast Queensland.

“It gives us an opportunity to hire and we are aiming for 60 apprentices across the program, so it’s an opportunity to develop skills for the business, for the industry and Australia,” he said.

“We have got electricians, fitters and turners and we also employ a lot of engineers, schedulers and planners along with operators for machines who we train up.

“As an Australian owned business, we understand the importance of supporting locals and are committed to playing a key role in helping build and support regional businesses.”

Martinus Rail, based at Rocklea, hopes to hire 600 local people, including 60 apprentices, to work on 570km of Inland Rail track between Narromine in New South Wales and Gowrie in Queensland.

A 2021 report from Infrastructure Australia found major public infrastructure activity would approximately double over the next three years, peaking at $52 billion in 2023.

The Infrastructure Market Capacity Report, also found the construction sector would need to grow from 183,000 people to more than 288,000 by 2023 to fill the jobs being created.

Inland Rail interim chief executive Rebecca Pickering said the worker shortfall had been recognised and Inland Rail was working with suppliers to open up jobs in the rail industry.

Mrs Pickering said the Inland Rail project would create 21,500 jobs at its peak and a Skills Academy had already been established.

Martinus Rail’s Treaven Martinus shows ARTC’s Rebecca Pickering around the Rocklea site.

“Both sides of the border will benefit significantly from Inland Rail with more than 11,800 direct and indirect jobs in Queensland and 7500 in New South Wales at the peak of construction in 2023-24,” she said.

“We can’t just assume that those workers are there and are ready and trained.

“We wanted to make sure we are having the right conversations early enough to attract people into our industry with our partners such as Martinus to be training people.”

Apprentice Nicholas Morris said he was glad he took up the opportunity.

Apprentice Nicholas Morris said he was glad he took up the opportunity to study and work at the same time.

“It means a lot to me and the work is really good too,” he said.

“The company is amazing to work for and they put me up into Acacia Ridge TAFE so I am doing that as well.

“All the boys have been helping me through from the start.”

The full 1700km Inland Rail freight line will connect Melbourne and Brisbane via regional Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

The federal government will spend more than $14.5 billion on the ARTC building the track in partnership with the private sector.

Construction started in 2018 and the line is not expected to be finished before 2027.