AUSTRALIA's federal infrastructure and transport minister, Mr Anthony Albanese, and New South Wales premier, Mr Barry O'Farrell, have announced the approval of a jointly-funded $A 1.1bn ($US 1.15bn) upgrade of the Northern Sydney Freight Corridor. The work encompasses the 160km section from North Strathfield to Newcastle and is intended to eliminate a bottleneck in northern Sydney improving access to the area for freight traffic.