Australia's largest rail infrastructure project, the Melbourne-Brisbane Inland Rail Freight Line, has switched to solar power to power its signaling system. The move is expected to save about A$25 million ($16.93 million) in costs.

Following a successful trial of the solar signaling system at Coolleearlee in northern NSW, ARTC has approved the system for use at the remaining 82 signaling stations along the rail corridor from Albury in the south of the state to Gowrie in Queensland run.

The Albury-Gowrie section is part of an ambitious inland rail project that will link the ports of Melbourne and Brisbane along a new route west of the Great Dividing Range. The line will bypass the Sydney metropolitan area and will also connect to the Sydney-Perth rail corridor.

Construction on the project, which began in 2018 and was due to finish in 2025, has been plagued by budget blowouts and construction delays. While no completion date has been set for the project, ARTC has switched to a solar-powered signaling system, a move that will help save money.

Rebecca Pickering, acting chief executive of ARTC Inland Rail, said using solar and battery energy storage instead of mains power for the signaling system had saved the project significant money, a move that eliminated the need to use local power infrastructure or obtain easements Mains power service for signaling sites.