THE Rail Freight Alliance (RFA) says the capacity of north-west Victoria to efficiently transport freight to the Port of Melbourne has been restricted by the stalled Murray Basin Rail Project.
In a submission to the Victorian Parliament Economy and Infrastructure Committee, the RFA said as a consequence of delays in completion and the quality of the works, capacity from the region had effectively decreased and a substantial amount of the freight task had subsequently moved to roads.
It said completion of the project to its original scope would allow further investments to create competition across Victorian ports.
RFA is made up of rural, regional and metropolitan councils across Victoria, including Mildura Rural City Council, and has a strong belief that loading more freight on rail would add to the safety, efficiency, productivity and prosperity of all Victorians.
RFA said the Port of Melbourne throughput would exceed 8.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units by 2050 and, to achieve its forecast growth, rail connectivity and infrastructure must be planned for immediately.
The ports of Geelong and Portland are expected to increase throughput of bulk commodities into the future and RFA said the state’s freight task could not be serviced by road freight alone.
The RFA submission comes as the Victorian Coalition calls on the State Government to release the revised business case for the Murray Basin Rail Project.
A Victorian Auditor-General’s Office report, released in March, found the project had “not met scope, time, cost or quality expectations” under the Victorian Labor Government.
Shadow minister for Regional Victoria and Decentralisation Peter Walsh said the government owed producers and transport stakeholders in north-west Victoria the truth on how the project would get back on track by releasing the revised business case.
He said new reports indicated the government had submitted a revised business case to the Federal Government six months overdue.
Mr Walsh said the project must be completed to its original scope, including upgrades to standardise the Sea Lake to Manangatang line.
“Only a fully standardised and upgraded freight rail network in north-west Victoria will deliver the efficiencies our producers need,” Mr Walsh said.
“The Andrews Labor Government’s completely botched delivery of the Basin Rail Project, which has slowed freight trains to a crawl and left transport stakeholders saying they were better off before the project started.
“A more efficient freight rail connection to domestic and international markets is crucial to ensure our local producers can be competitive and grow the productivity and profitability of their business.”
