The Government of Australia has allocated A$8.4bn ($6.18bn) as part of its 2017 budget for the development of a direct rail freight route known as Inland Rail, which will run from Melbourne to Brisbane.

Funding for the project will be provided to the Australian Rail Track.

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Construction of this 1,700km project will commence later this financial year and is set to support an estimated 16,000 jobs. The route will benefit all regions encompassed by its route, along with Melbourne and Brisbane.

It is also expected to reduce the travel time between the two cities to less than 24 hours upon completion.

The government has made total funding and financing commitments of more than A$70bn ($51.4bn) from 2013-14 to 2020-21 to develop critical transport infrastructure throughout the country.

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"The government has made total funding and financing commitments of more than A$70bn ($51.4bn) from 2013-14 to 2020-21 to develop critical transport infrastructure throughout the country."

A National Rail Programme worth A$10bn ($7.3bn) will also be established to fund priority regional and urban rail investments.

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The programme is intended to assist transformational urban passenger rail initiatives in major Australian cities, in addition to improving regional rail services.

Australia is also providing A$1bn ($735m) to fund priority regional and urban infrastructure in Victoria, which includes A$500m ($367m) for regional passenger rail and A$1.6bn ($1.1bn) towards a A$2.3bn ($1.6bn) road and rail infrastructure package for the Western Australia region.

The whole federal budget focuses on encouraging the development of small businesses, as well as creating jobs and building infrastructure.