Editorial: Let’s get the rail link rolling
A GROUNDSWELL of support is flowing from industry groups to the inland rail project, seeking urgent upgrades to the east coast freight network to finally lay standard track to link Brisbane to Melbourne ports.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull stepped into office saying Australia’s biggest challenge was transitioning from the mining boom to a diverse 21st century economy.
However, government is yet to commit to the project, which would drop transport costs for a plethora of import- and export-dependent industries, whose balance sheets have groaned under the weight of the Aussie dollar – grown fat on resources profits.
But the dollar has dropped and now non-mining sector industries can operate on a more level playing field with international competitors.
Plans for an inland rail have floated in and out of parliament for decades. It was first formally considered in 1902. And again, a cacophony of voices call for it.
The project is NSW Farmers and the Australian Logistics Council’s top priority; GrainCorp urges government to invest; Commonwealth adviser Infrastructure Australia and the Inland Rail taskforce list it as a national priority and former Nats’ leader Warren Truss championed it though parliament.
Why? Because existing infrastructure is at the end of its tether and freight costs are biting: Case in point is grain – one of the country’s biggest exports.
A Rabobank report (Australian Grains, Competitive Strains) found growers spend about 30 per cent of their grain income on transport. Costs of up to $57 a tonne can come from inefficient storage and logistics.
Juturna Infrastructure adviser Luke Fraser said east coast growers’ rail freight costs were $23 per tonne higher than their Canadian counterparts. The inland rail could also take pressure off clogged roads. Trucks carry the bulk of Brisbane to Melbourne freight.
Rail only carries about 20 per cent of volume in the east coast’s north-south corridor, compared with 80pc moving on trains east-west. More trucks will be needed unless increased rail capacity relieves the pressure. The east coast freight task is forecast to double within 20 years and triple within 40, as the population grows by 60pc.
The report to government by the Inland Rail Taskforce, headed by former deputy prime minister John Anderson, said funding was either needed now, or it challenged policy makers to find a better solution.
“The question is not whether inland rail represents a sensible investment, rather what would be required in its absence to support a productive national economy.”
