Freight costs savings for farmers as NSW signs rail deal

The Land understands the  upgraded rail line in Sydney will not only take many trucks off the road but offer savings to freightmovers of nearly $10 a tonne.

As part of the inland rail deal it’s been suggested Coco-Cola Amatil may even set-up a factory in Narrabri to take advantage of the freight savings inland rail will offer.

Now the deal has been sealed, with NSW handing over some of its rail assets to the Federal Government, the construction of the Parkes to Narromine link may start within two months.

The Federal Government has promised $10 billion for inland rail, and now has agreements on state rail assets with Victoria and NSW. It is now trying to secure a deal with Queensland.

The NSW Government says the deal will be a significant boost for regional NSW, and farmers getting their goods to port. The rail line runs from Melbourne to Brisbane. The upgrade of the Port Botany line will help keep freight moving east as well as north and south. Parkes wil be a major rail interchange hub for the project.

The $300m spent on an extra Port Botany rail line will be part of the Federal budget.

The inland rail deal will be signed today between Federal Infrastructure Minister and Nationals leader Michael McCormack and NSW Deputy Premier and Regional NSW Minister John Barilaro.

Roads minister Melinda Pavey said inland rail offered huge benefits to farmers.

“A spinal cord that will create a rail linkage between Parkes in New South Wales and Brisbane, providing a connection between Queensland and the southern and western States,”, Mrs Pavey said.

“A project that is expected to increase Australia’s GDP by $16 billion during its construction and first 50 years of operation. It’s a project that will facilitate private investment. 

“At the peak of construction it will deliver 16,000 new jobs at the peak of construction, and an average of 700 additional jobs per year over the entire period. 

“And these jobs will be felt on the ground in regional NSW, in places like Narrabri, Parkes and Forbes.

“It will make it easier for freight to move from farms, mines and ports to national and overseas markets. 

“Two million tonnes of agricultural freight will switch from road to rail, with a total of 8.9 million tonnes of agricultural freight more efficiently diverted to Inland Rail. 

“Rail costs for intercapital freight travelling between Melbourne and Brisbane will be reduced by $10 per tonne. That’s $10 back into the pockets of our farmers and consumers. 

“Inland Rail offers less than 24 hour transit time between Melbourne and Brisbane terminals and 98 per cent reliability matching current road levels. 

“This project means the rail distance between Melbourne and Brisbane is reduced by 200km and the distance between Brisbane and Perth and Brisbane and Adelaide is reduced by 500km.”

NSW Ports said ina release that completing the duplication of the Port Botany Freight Rail Line between Port Botany and Mascot was an essential requirement to meet the growing freight demands of Sydney and to help grow the rail transport of containers to and from Port Botany.

Every one million TEU moved by rail reduces the number of trucks on the roads around Port Botany by more than 900 trucks each day, it said.

The duplication of the freight rail line will both increase reliability for rail operators now and create long-term capacity. The duplication, which will facilitate rail freight, will also support existing and planned intermodal terminals.

NSW Ports CEO Marika Calfas said, “About 440,000 TEU each year travel by rail to and from Port Botany and this volume is growing. Completing the duplication of the Port Botany freight line will ensure reliability of freight rail access to Port Botany and resilience in the event of disruption on the single track.

“We have a target to move 3 million TEU by rail in the long term. The duplication of the freight line is essential to achieve this objective and will benefit Sydney with reduced volumes of trucks on roads around the Port.

“Today’s announcement by the Federal and NSW State Governments is good news for all Sydneysiders as we all rely on containerised freight for our everyday needs. More than 42% of items inside Sydney’s houses have entered the country via a container at Port Botany.

“NSW Ports thanks the Federal and NSW State Government for their ongoing commitment to improving the efficiency of port supply chains which supports the residents and businesses of NSW.”