Late last year the federal government announced the Eumungerie Road option as the preferred study area for the project between Narromine and Burroway.

The announcement angered some landowners who claimed they were not consulted by the Australian Rail Track Corporation prior to the completion of an analysis for the government to narrow the route options from four to one.

At an information session at Narromine on December 14, the Inland Rail project team acknowledged there had been a lack of consultation.

At the time they were unable to say how many landowners had been overlooked, with then-project manager Olivia Newman saying it was an error on their part.

“I know that they’re just words to the landholders in that area but it was an honest mistake,” she said.

The Narromine News has since attempted to find out exactly how many landowners were missed in that round of consultation but the ARTC has declined to provide figures on three occasions, most recently on Friday.

A spokesperson this week said the ARTC was committed to meeting with “every single one of these landowners along the 300km of the project to understand their concerns and ensure the best possible outcome”.

“The next intensive phase of this consultation will begin in the coming weeks, starting in the Narromine area,” the spokesperson said.

“The Central West region stands to benefit from a $480 million boost to its economy as a result of Inland Rail, by better connecting produce to ports, opening up business opportunities like intermodals, as well as jobs during construction and increased activity in local shops and businesses that flow.”

It is understood there are 300 landowners within the project’s Narromine to Narrabri study corridor, with around 100 in the area stretching from the Parkes-Narromine rail line, south of Narromine, to Burroway.

The ARTC met with 450 landowners from across four route options between Narromine and Narrabri in 2017.

In its December 2017 project update, the ARTC reported the preferred study area had been arrived at following consultation with the community and stakeholders, “on both the 2016 Concept Alignment and the shortlisted options”, in March and April 2017.

Following this consultation, the ARTC produced the Report on Narromine to Narrabri MCA (multi-criteria analysis), May 2017 comparing the 2016 Concept Alignment and the Eumungerie Road option, and a recommendation was made to the government.

An MCA compares each option on a range of factors: technical viability, safety assessment, operational approach, constructability and schedule, environmental and heritage, community and property, and approvals and stakeholder risk.

The Eumungerie Road option scored 0.55 – only marginally better than the 2016 Concept Design – but scored poorly on the ‘community and property’ criteria.

It scored better on ‘technical viability’ and ‘constructability and schedule’.

“From a technical perspective, the Eumungerie Road option represents the better solution,” the report concludes.