High Speed Rail Authority seeks 20 hectares for advanced manufacturing facility
Retro Railway Paradies / PexelsA high-speed train travels through green countryside under blue skies.(File image: Retro Railway Paradies / Pexels)
Newy 87.8 FM – The federal High Speed Rail Authority has called two expressions of interest for an Advanced Manufacturing Facility for the Newcastle–Sydney high speed rail project, including a search for at least 20 hectares of land between Newcastle and Western Sydney International Airport.
The land expression of interest, published on AusTender, seeks strategically located sites with access to major road and/or freight networks. The minimum 20 hectares can be a single site or a consolidated multi-site solution, to support one or more facilities plus associated temporary construction facilities.
The corridor's inclusion of Newcastle raises the prospect of a Hunter location, though the Authority has not stated where the facility will be built.
A second expression of interest seeks Early Contractor Involvement partners on a fee-for-service, collaborative basis to develop the facility's solution, design and delivery program, with partners then competing on a proposal for its delivery and operation.
Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King said the proposed facility would use automation, robotics and precision manufacturing to deliver the railway more efficiently, creating skilled jobs and opportunities for Australian manufacturers and suppliers.
The Authority says trains would run at up to 320 km/h, giving roughly a one-hour Newcastle–Sydney trip, and the project at peak construction would add $3 billion a year to national economic activity and create up to 15,000 construction jobs a year.
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