Australian Rail Track Corporation is pushing for investment

John Fullerton, managing director and chief executive officer of Australian Rail Track Corporation, is urging for more rail investment.

In a letter to the editor in the Canberra Times, Fullerton notes that the east coast has three major interstate freeways, but rail has one, "and with freight volumes set to more than double by 2050, that one is not going to cut it".

"If we don't build inland rail, be prepared to spend double building roads that can accommodate those freight volumes," he writes.

Fullerton adds that with inland rail, which is backed up by a business case produced by PWC in 2015, Australia will have a resilient rail network with multiple pathways that will carry the longer, more efficient trains of the future and bring further prosperity to regional Australia.

"When you think about what the country needs in terms of infrastructure, you will understand why inland rail is important and we are getting on with it."