The Port of Melbourne welcomed the Government’s support of the new $125 million Port Rail Transformation Project (PRTP) to reduce truck movements, improve productivity and further enhance the Australian port.
The port’s rail solution will be developed over the next three years and will see more containers moved by rail more efficiently, by-passing roads in inner Melbourne.
Port of Melbourne CEO, Brendan Bourke, stated:
The port’s rail solution is a critical and missing link in Melbourne’s transport and supply chain network. It expands the rail offering for freight and delivers environmental benefits by reducing truck movements, congestion and pollution
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The project is being funded by a small increase in the tariff on full import containers of $9.75 per TEU to take place no earlier than 1 April 2020. This equates to less than 5 cents on the wholesale price on an average sized television.
The PRTP is the key project of the port’s Rail Access Strategy – Our Plan For Rail, which is a comprehensive plan for an integrated freight rail network across Victoria.
Key elements of the Port Rail Transformation Project are:
- Integrated Port of Melbourne provision of port rail land and assets – Port of Melbourne is restructuring the port rail land and asset commercial arrangements for leaseholders within the Swanson Dock East Precinct to provide rail land and assets on the same basis it provides wharf and road land and assets;
- New on-dock rail terminal capacity – development of a new on-dock rail terminal at Swanson Dock East. Locating this new rail terminal next to the Swanson Dock East International Container Terminal will provide a lower cost transfer of containers between rail and ships;
- Improved rail terminal operation arrangements and transparency – new working arrangements between Port of Melbourne and Rail Terminal Operators at most current and all future port rail terminals. This encourages market competition between rail terminals and increases transparency.
