03 Oct 2018 Benalla Ensign, Benalla VIC (General News) Work has started on a huge rail siding to service the new precast concrete facility being built in Benalla. Roads and Road Safety Minister Luke Donnellan joined State Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes last week to visit the worksite, that will soon start producing precast concrete for the West Gate Tunnel project. A new 700 m siding will be created from the existing rail line to provide direct access to the precast facility. A section of new rail track will also be built connected to the nearby freight line so the concrete segments can be loaded directly from the precast facility on to freight trains and transported to Melbourne. About 20 m of new track has been laid and the existing train line is being upgraded ahead of the commissioning of the new siding in late 2018. Ms Symes said the concrete facility was a major investment in Benalla. We are already seeing jobs being created for local people with construction well under way, Ms Symes said. This facility nearly didnt happen due to the Liberal and National parties opposition to the project. Im proud that my home town of Benalla and people throughout the north east share in the benefits of the Andrews Labor Governments West Gate Tunnel. Construction is well under way on a new $60 million precast concrete facility in readiness for concrete production. The facility will initially provide more than 65 000 concrete products for the West Gate Tunnel Project. Excavators are levelling the site and the steel frames are going up for the three large sheds to be built. The precast facility will include a concrete batching plant, the large sheds for precast concrete production, offices, precast product storage, maintenance areas, a precast rail siding and 300 car parking spaces for workers. It will be the largest of its kind in Victoria, capable of producing more than 1500 tonnes of concrete product per day at peak capacity. The facility is expected to create 400 jobs and aims to ensure northern Victorian communities can benefit from the many opportunities created by the states booming infrastructure sector.