Dubbo's Mindyarra Rail Maintenance Facility awarded a top rating by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council

The NSW government is currently constructing the purpose-built maintenance facility in Dubbo to service the new regional rail fleet.

Construction started in October 2020 and is set to be complete later this year.

Thanks to its green design, the rail project has been awarded a top rating by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council.

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The ISC uses a rating system to evaluate economic, social and environmental performance of infrastructure across the planning, design, construction and operational phases of infrastructure assets.

During construction of the Mindyarra Rail Maintenance Centre, up to 5000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions were reduced by using 9000 cubic metres of carbon-neutral concrete.

There will also be 3400 solar panels installed on the rooftop of the centre, which will generate at least 95 per cent of its annual power.

As of mid-June, 1300 had already been installed.

Dubbo-based company Western Plains Electrical and Solar is installing the solar panels. It includes panels being mounted on more than 6.6 kilometres of framework and about 50 kilometres of electrical cabling to connect the inverters.

Ways to be greener with water use are also being investigated.

Ninety per cent of the Mindyarra Rail Maintenance Facility's non-potable water will come from rainwater tanks, bore water or recycled water.

Native and drought tolerant plants will be used across the 25-hectare facility so irrigation is not required.

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said the NSW government was rolling out a $19.4 billion regional roads and infrastructure pipeline and as part of that were finding ways to build projects that reduce environmental impacts and cut emissions to contribute.

"Using innovative concrete instead of standard materials is equivalent of taking more than 920 cars off the road for a year, or the total energy usage of more than 700 Australian homes for all heating, cooling, cooking and lighting for a year," he said.

Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders said securing the Mindyarra Rail Maintenance Centre was a major coup for Dubbo.

The facility is supporting about 200 jobs during the construction phase and 50 ongoing jobs during the maintenance phase.

"It's great to have a local business Western Plains Electrical and Solar play such a pivotal role in the project, installing everything from the brackets in the racking through to the inverters," he said.

"As the local member I will always fight for projects that grow our town and provide more opportunities to stop the brain drain and keep our young people in Dubbo and close to family."

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