Construction contract awarded for $13 million Wumbulgal rail siding project
A $13 million contract has been awarded for the construction of a rail siding at Wumbulgal in the Riverina to help improve efficiency for primary producers and enable significant investment by freight and logistics providers in the region.
The project will deliver a 1,500-metre, multi-user rail siding between Griffith and Leeton – a major step forward in improving reliability for both freight and passenger services across the region.
Designed to be accessible to any rail operator, the new siding will address a major rail bottleneck where grain trains can currently take up to eight hours to load, blocking the main line and preventing other trains from passing.
The siding will allow trains up to 1.5 kilometres long to load, park or pass others without disrupting the main line – boosting capacity and improving efficiency on the track section between Coolamon and Griffith.
The upgrade also sets the groundwork for future connection into the proposed Western Riverina Connect (WR Connect) intermodal freight terminal, a project being developed by Griffith and Leeton councils.
Laing O’Rourke has been engaged to construct the new siding, with work set to begin this month.
This latest investment builds on the NSW Government’s recent $60 million, 25-tonne axle-load upgrade across 174 kilometres of track between Junee and Griffith, and an $8 million 1,500-metre siding extension at Coolamon.