The railway line is approx. 5.6 kilometres of the old 24 kilometre long branch line between Oberon and Tarana.

Once complete, this section of the rail line will be used to run a train as a tourist attraction for the benefit of Oberon, the Central Tablelands, and the Central West.

The successful tenderer was Complete Asset Management Pty Ltd (CAM) which is based in Dubbo NSW, providing a quality specialised workforce to the Australian Rail Industry throughout New South Wales with the flexibility to also mobilise and work within other States.

Trackwork is due to commence by the end of this month and weather permitting, is likely to be completed by October 2022.

Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway Inc (OTHR) is a railway volunteer group established in 2006 with a vision to completely restore the suspended Branch Line between Oberon and Tarana.

OTHR intends to commence rail operations by about the middle of 2023. There are numerous compliance issues to work through such as driver training updates, locomotives and carriages to be upgraded, and obtaining all regulatory compliances.

"The execution of this contract is most significant for OTHR, Oberon, the Central Tablelands and Central West," Greg Bourne President of OTHR said.

"OTHR was formed in 2006 with a vision of restoring the Branch Line and running a tourist train operation. After much blood sweat and tears by past and current volunteers, the vision is becoming a reality.

"The line was officially suspended in 1979 and some 43 years later it is about to come back to life."

Funding for this project was provided by the Federal Government as a $1.5M grant and presented to OTHR by Andrew Gee, Member for Calare.

Once this section of line is complete it is estimated that an additional 8,000 new visitors will be attracted to the region annually.