Under data released in a NSW government freight plan, the impact the rail works will have on the local freight industry has been confirmed
In the latest updates on the ongoing Botany Rail Duplication freight work, estimates about how this will impact the local freight industry have been revealed.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is continuing to duplicate 2.9km of rail between Mascot and Botany, with work expected to finish at the end of next year.
Under new data ascertained from the NSW Freight and Ports Plan 2018-2023 prepared by the NSW government, increasing rail capacity will take 54 trucks off the road per freight train running.
The plan says freight to be handled at Port Botany will increase from 14.4 million tonnes in 2016 to 25.5 million tonnes in 2036, with the Botany Rail Duplication increasing from 20 trains per day to around 45 in 2030 to cater to this growing demand.
Technical solutions sales manager of Sarens, a company helping construct the duplication, Michiel de Bodt, says the company is continuing to get the work done efficiently.
“Projects of this type usually require several weeks of preparation – we were requested by our client on a Friday afternoon to mobilise our team and equipment on the next Monday morning, yet we know what we had to do and had the confidence of our client to execute this job safely,” de Bodt says.
“If we had not delivered, our client would’ve suffered significant delays in their projects and we weren’t going to let them down.”