UK consultant Turner & Townsend and Canadian engineer SNC-Lavalin have been appointed to provide programme management services on Inland Rail, Australia’s biggest infrastructure project.
The duo, who will form a Project Management Office (PMO), were selected by the Australian Rail Track Corporation. They will support decision-making and governance processes on the 1,700km line, which will link Melbourne and Brisbane via the mountainous divide of the Eastern Highlands.
Richard Wankmuller, Inland Rail’s chief executive, said: "We are very pleased to have the expertise of Turner & Townsend on board as we ramp up work on Australia’s biggest rail infrastructure project.
"With construction now under way on the Parkes to Narromine section and comprehensive design work progressing across other parts of the route, we welcome the additional structure and support that comes with the PMO being entrenched as a hub of the Inland Rail organisation.
"The PMO will assist us to develop robust and comprehensive approaches to project governance, assurance, project controls and reporting, as well as fine tune some of our existing processes, augment our current team, and help accelerate delivery of the overall Inland Rail Programme.
"The PMO is established in our Brisbane-based offices and has mobilised a ‘fast-start’ team to hit the ground running."
Darren Munton, Turner & Townsend’s director of infrastructure for Australia and New Zealand, said: "Our world-class PMO team brings international best practice, experience and lessons learned from local and global legacy projects including Western Sydney Airport, Sydney Metro, Metronet, Crossrail and High Speed 2.
"These insights and lessons learned will be shared with the Inland Rail team and will benefit the overall programme by creating an environment of continuous improvement, professional collaboration and innovation to address the challenges inherent in projects of this scale and complexity."
Image courtesy of Turner & Townsend
