Land Acquisition on a Large-Scale Rail Project

Inland Rail is a once in a generation, nation-building project that aims to revolutionise the way that fright is moving across the three states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. The project consists of 1700km of rail from Melbourne to Brisbane with both brownfield and greenfield sections connecting existing systems and upon completion with provide the “spine” to Australia’s rail freight network. As preparation for the construction of the project, ARTC (Australian Rail Track Corporation) must acquire the land on which they plan to build on. This is a complex and carefully managed process which can vary in time or method depending on the nature of the landholder or the federal state. It is important that the project team have an accurate estimation of where they are going to acquire land and how much – to this end GIS plays a major role.