THE RAILWAY IS THE MAIN MEDIA TRANSPORT OF FREIGHT IN AUSTRALIA. THE NEW PROJECTS, AS INLAND RAIL, WHICH HAS A BUDGET OF 8.4 BILLION AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS (7.545 Bm) WILL PROMOTE THEIR DEVELOPMENT IN FORTHCOMING YEARS. FURTHERMORE, OTHER RELEVANT WORKS ARE CARRIED OUT, SUCH AS THE MURRAY BASIN LINE.
he railways are highly competitive for bulk transport, in mining and agricultural sectors, over long distance routes in Australia. The mining sector represents 69% of the total, since most of the coal is transported by this means. In addition, 19% is dedicated to intermodal transport and 12% to primary products.
The implementation of large projects such as “Inland Rail” will contribute to the growth of bulk services in the coming years. Congestion of roadway infrastructure will also contribute to greater demand for train routes. To boost its development, there are plans such as the new Moorebank Precinct terminal in New South Wales.
INLAND RAIL MELBOURNE (VICTORIA) -BRISBANE (QUEENSLAND)
Inland Rail is a 1,700 kilometre rail freight line that directly connects Melbourne (Victoria) and Brisbane (Queensland), without going through the Sydney network.
The project, which ends in 2030, is described as “priority” and the Government has allocated to its development an entry of 8.4 billion Australian dollars (7.545 billion euros). The aim is to provide a service to compete with the roadways, with the option of carrying out this journey in 24 hours efficiently, safely and more economically.
The branch includes improvements to 1,200 km of existing tracks and the construction of a further 500 kilometres through regional Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Furthermore, access will be made to the ports of Melbourne, Port Kembla, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Trains can reach travelling speeds of 115 kilometres per hour and it will be possible to carry out double loads, thus obtaining a clear advantage over transport by lorries. The current coastal route can be shortened by about ten hours, with a connection of agricultural and mining areas to the transport network.
PORT RAIL SHUTTLE (MELBOURNE, VICTORIA)
The main cargo centres in the north and west of Melbourne will be connected to the city’s port. This network, which includes the facilities of the Austrak company, the Somerton centre and SCT Logistics Altona, will allow more than 70,000 containers to be transported by rail and be more competitive than via road. The federal government will allocate 38 million AUS$ (34.1 million euros) to this project, along with another 20 million dollars (M) that the Victorian government will contribute.
Murray Basin Line (Victoria)
With this project, with a budget of 440 million dollars (395 million euros), significant improvements are made to the freight rail network of North Western Victoria. In this area is the Murray Basin region, with a large bulk production and export of agricultural and mineral products. The company entrusted with the works is the firm V / Line.
One of the most significant tasks is to enable wide track access to the port of Portland. The works have been divided into five stages, four of them already completed. The latter includes improvement work on the Warrenheip line to Maryborough.
MOOREBANK LOGISTICS PARK
The Moorebank logistics park has been considered one of the most significant infrastructure projects in the country. The Government has committed to investing 370 million dollars (332 million euros) for its development and aims to improve the current connectivity of freight transport. To achieve this, a 243-hectare terminal will be built that will become the largest logistics centre in Australia. Once operational, it will boast the capacity to transport up to 1.05 million TEUs per year in export and import activities and another 0.5 million in interstate connections.
This large infrastructure will have a rail connection with the Southern Freight Line (SSFL).
TASMANIA GOODS REVIVAL PROGRAMME
This Programme, with a budget of 119.6 million Australian dollars (107 million euros), includes the installation of 290 kilometres of track and the insertion of 225,740 sleepers, along with additional work on the Melba line.
The third phase is currently being developed, which consists of the overhaul of the port of Burnie with the construction of a new ship loader to replace the existing one and allow bulk products to be transferred onto container ships for domestic and foreign export.
CABRAMATTA RAILWAY CONNECTION (SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES)
The Australian Government will allocate 400 million dollars (359 million euros) to two railway projects in New South Wales. Along with the duplication of the track at Botany Port, the construction of a new road between the outlying areas of Cabramatta and Sydney Warwick Farm has been announced.
This will allow freight trains travelling in any direction to cross over and provide additional rail freight capacity.
PUERTO BOTANY (TRACK DUPLICATION)
will become Australia’s largest container port in terms of volume in the next 30 years. For this reason, it is necessary to provide improved railway connections. At the moment the line between these facilities and Cooks River has a single track section that will be duplicated, alongside the building of a new access and carrying out the associated signaling work.
The project is expected to permit greater load movement from the current average of approximately 20 trains per day (per direction) to around 45 trains per day (per direction) by 2030.
These works are part of the “New South Wales Freight and Ports Plan” (NSW Freight and Ports Plan 2018-2023) and have a regional budget of 400 million Australian dollars (359 million euros). This year also ends stage three, which consisted of the improvement of the South Sydney Freight Line that goes from these facilities to MacArthur.