Inland Rail

Question

1. On 25 May 2026, draft Hansard page 5, Mr Betts gave evidence to the Committee that ARTC did a cost 'reset' in 2022 resulting in an estimated cost of $33.8 billion. a) On what date was that price reset completed? b) Was the price reset undertaken at the request of the Government? If so, on what date was the request made? c) If not requested by the Government, was the price reset requested by the Independent Reviewer (Dr Kerry Schott) or for the purpose of informing the Independent Review into the Inland Rail project? d) On what date was the Minister first advised of the outcome of the ARTC's 'reset' costing? e) Was this costing reset different to the one requested or undertaken by the Commonwealth during the 46th Parliament? 2. On what date in 2022 did the Australian Government first announce Beveridge as the site of the Inland Rail terminal servicing Melbourne in Victoria? What funding commitments were announced by the then Government to support the planning and development and delivery of access infrastructure to the Beveridge Intermodal Terminal at that time? 3. Once construction of the Inland Rail (Beveridge to Parkes) is completed, what is the estimated freight travel time between Melbourne and Perth via Parkes? 4. For the 2024-25 year, what was the a) best and b) average freight travel time between Melbourne and Perth on the existing east-west ARTC rail freight network? 5. On 25 May 2026, draft Hansard page 7, Mr Betts gave evidence to the Committee the $1.75 billion equity commitment for maintenance of the ARTC's rail network announced in the 2025-26 budget is to be focused on improvements to reliability of the east-west corridor. What specific upgrade works and at which specific locations has the ARTC identified to be implemented from this funding and what is the proposed cost of each (please list)? 6. With regard to the costings data for Inland Rail construction stages which were redacted from the copy of the ACIL Allen report into the Inland Rail tabled on 25 May 2026, at what stage in the process of delivering the individual contracts for delivery of the project will it be appropriate for this data to be made public? Will the Department be able to release these cost figures to this Committee progressively once works on each stage are completed and final milestone payments made? If not, why not? 7. On 25 May 2026, draft Hansard page 18, Ms Werner gave evidence to the Committee that Inland Rail Pty Ltd and ARTC are required to report to the Minister significant notification events. a) Which instances of a contract expected to increase by more than $20 million have been reported to the Minister since 1 June 2024? (Please list all) b) What instances where it is proposed to enter into new contracts have been reported to the Minister since 1 June 2024 (please list all)? c) What instances where a percentage increase of 5 per cent or more is experienced have been reported to the Minister since 1 June 2024 (please list all)?

Answer

Please see attached PDF.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• SQ26-000704.pdf (opens in a new tab)