Inland Rail CEO Nick Miller and the Inland Rail Board of Directors visited the Parkes Special Activation Precinct on Wednesday 27th Novemeber, with Mr Miller declaring after the visit that Parkes has established itself as the flagship city on the Inland Rail project.
After visiting the Parkes Special Activation to review the freight and logistics facilities at the 4,800-hectare site, Mr Miller and the Inland Rail board held an official company board meeting in Parkes, the first time the board has ever met in the town.
Inland Rail will connect Melbourne to Brisbane via Parkes, while the Trans-Australian Railway connects Sydney to Perth via Port Augusta in South Australia and the Nullarbor Plain, with the Parkes Special Activation Precinct, sitting on the only junction of Australia’s two rail spines.
Inland Rail is expecting to be in full construction in every section between Beveridge and Parkes next year as it looks to complete the Beveridge to Parkes by sections by 2027.
Construction began on the Stockinbingal to Parkes section of the project in March this year, with 162 local residents employed on this section. Of this number, 28 are First Nations people. The section has also employed 54 women and spent more than $9 million with 97 local businesses.
Nick Miller, Inland Rail CEO, said “What we are seeing happening in Parkes with the Special Activation Precinct is just a taste of what is to come as Inland Rail gets built out further – there is no doubt that Parkes is the flagship town on the project right now.
“The Parkes Special Activation Precinct and Inland Rail complement each other to provide a compelling answer to questions of sustainable growth in Australia.”