Member for Geraldton Lara Dalton, WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti and Member for Agricultural Region Sandra Carr announced the in-principal funding agreement on Friday. Photo: Rita Saffioti

RAIL operator Arc Infrastructure has signed an in-principle funding agreement with the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia to commence upgrades to the Midland Railway to help achieve the shared goal of hauling more grain on rail.

The upgrades will involve bringing a section of the line between Mingenew and Carnamah from 16-tonne axle load (TAL) to 19 TAL.

The co-funded project is part of the Commonwealth and State Agricultural Supply Chain Improvement (ASCI) program Package 1 and will see the WA Government invest up to $45 million towards design and procurement, and Arc invest $22M towards construction.

Approximately 77km of track will be upgraded, providing an immediate benefit to growers, with the ability to load 25 percent heavier trains in the upgraded section.

Improvements will include replacing all timber sleepers to a concrete/steel sleeper pattern as well as renewing rail infrastructure to allow the heavier axle loads, with construction expected to start next year and finish in 2026.

CBH Group is the sole customer on the line, which is used throughout the year to transport more than 500,000t of grain annually to Geraldton Port.

Arc and CBH have agreed a construction methodology where large sections of the track will be closed for several months during construction.

Combined with Arc delivering the work with its internal teams, this methodology reduces the overall project cost by over $30M, enabling a more efficient spend of ASCI funding.

The parties will now work together to ensure that movement of grain is optimised across the network ahead of and during construction outages.

Arc chief executive officer Murray Cook said the company was pleased to contribute funding and partner with government to deliver grain-line upgrades, reflecting Arc’s commitment to increase freight on rail.

“By co-investing in grain line upgrades we can ensure Commonwealth and State Government ASCI funding can be spent efficiently and increase grain on rail, delivering greater benefits across WA,” Mr Cook said.

WA Government Transport Minister Rita Saffioti welcomed the signing of the in-principal funding agreement.

“Being able to transport more grain by rail to Geraldton means less grain on road, and that is an important road safety outcome for the region,” Ms Saffioti said.

“Delivering rail upgrades in key agricultural regions as part of the $200M ASCI Program was an important Labor State Government election commitment to our agricultural regions and many of these projects are now either complete, or underway.

“It’s fantastic to see this project moving forward as it will increase our grain on rail capacity and help strengthen our supply chains in key agricultural regions.”

A number of projects have already been delivered or are under way as part of the ASCI program, including major upgrades to a number of rail sidings across WA.

Source: Arc Infrastructure, WA Government