THE upgrade to the Dubbo Rail Triangle has been completed which has improved access for trains travelling to the north, south and west of the state that use this busy central junction point, according to Dubbo MP Troy Grant.
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The Deputy Premier and Minister for Roads and Freight Duncan Gay announced the completion of the $1.66 million project on Wednesday.
Mr Grant believes the recent upgrade will deliver improved travel times and increase efficiency for all trains that travel in and round Dubbo.
"Prior to the upgrade, switches for rail and road traffic at the Triangle needed to be manually operated," he said.
"Now, the Triangle has new automatic switches, which will save trains up to 15 minutes travel time.
"Some of the key routes to benefit include between Parkes and Cobar, northern NSW and Coonamble, and southern NSW and Orange.
"This is a great win for country NSW, allowing freight to arrive at destinations on time more regularly, meeting deadlines for domestic and export customers."
Mr Gay said the upgrade will also deliver benefits to surrounding roads, which previously experienced heavy traffic build up due to train delays.
"By cutting travel times at the Triangle we also deliver flow on benefits to other critical road corridors, including Wheelers Lane and Cobbora Road with reduced delays at level crossings," he said.
"Wheelers Lane in particular experiences 20,000 vehicle movements per day, making it one of the main roads into the city of Dubbo.
"Due to the importance of Wheelers Lane, we will also be investing an extra $865,000 for further upgrades, including the installation of high intensity LED lights, bells, reflective boom gates and pedestrian facilities such as automated swing gates to boost safety."
The NSW government contributed $1.36 million and Australian Rail Track Corporation contributing $300,000 towards this upgrade.