Labor says Federal Government has no fixed plan for key aspects of $14.5 billion project

Labor claims the Federal Government is “stuffing up” the $14.5 billion Inland Rail project.

Supplied pics of the inland rail from Melbourne to Sydney being built.

The Senate Inquiry into the Management of the Inland Rail project has heard the Federal Government has no fixed plan for where Inland Rail will start, where it will end, the route it will take or how it will interact with existing stations up and down the country.

A statement from senate inquiry chair Senator Glenn Sterle and Catherine King MP said the Australian Rail Track Corporation confirmed on Friday the Federal Government was yet to determine where the route will start in Melbourne, while in Brisbane the proposal to end the route in Acacia Ridge is “under review”.

The ARTC also confirmed that it is heading back to the drawing board when it comes to station redevelopments throughout northern Victoria.

Under previously announced plans, the ARTC was intending to raise the height of road overpasses to allow the transit of double stacked trains.

The Federal Opposition seized upon the information, saying that while it was glad the ARTC has finally listened to local communities, “we remain seriously concerned regarding the future of this project”.

“Under the Deputy Prime Minister’s stewardship, total costs for this project have already blown out from $9.3 billion to $14.5 billion without any clarity being provided on the shape the actual line will take,” the statement said.

“This project is too important to stuff up, but that is exactly what the (Federal) Government is doing.

“The Deputy Prime Minister finally needs to demonstrate leadership on this important national project and tell affected communities, the freight industry and the parliament exactly how this project will be delivered, when it will be completed and how much it will actually end up costing Australian taxpayers.”