Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise with a degree of pleasure to speak about an important infrastructure milestone implemented by this government in my electorate—the Epping to Thornleigh Third Track. On Friday I will have the privilege of hosting the Deputy Prime Minister in my electorate, and he will note the importance of this $1.1 billion development in improving the freight corridor for Sydney.

This is the last section of the rail track that will be now laid for this project. The corridor will eliminate more than 200,000 heavy vehicle road trips per year for the next 15 years. This corridor, along with the work of NorthConnex, will address the significant bottleneck that occurs on Pennant Hills Road in my constituency, about which I have spoken frequently. Over the next six months, more work will be done on the construction of retaining walls, electrification, noise treatments and landscaping. And landscaping is what I want to finish on. I have been working closely with well-known constituents Graham Ross and Kent Ross and my state colleague Damien Tudehope to ensure that the area—Beecroft and Cheltenham—receives much-needed revegetation after the construction. This is to maintain the particularly unique character of my electorate, and I emphasise the importance of that in relation to this development.