From the Editor

Oliver Probert Editor - Rail Express

Rail doing its part, but intermodal progress still to come

This issue of Rail Express includes a special feature on the intermodal and logistics sector. Getting more freight off roads is of course a focus for businesses within Australia’s rail sector, but it should be considered a need by society as a whole.

Communities living around major ports already feature frequently in the news, making their voices heard about the rising number of big trucks rumbling down their street. Away from the ports themselves, nobody likes driving alongside an 18-wheeler on the highway. A single train can take scores of trucks off the road, reducing emissions and boosting the overall efficiency of the supplychain. Despite this, rail volumes continue to struggle at Australian ports.

The most recent report into portside container handling from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission showed the share of containers carried via rail has dipped in Sydney and Brisbane, and stayed the same in Melbourne and Adelaide. The only major port where rail received a significant increase in modal share was Fremantle, where 18 per cent of containers are now carried by rail, the highest rate in the country. Overall, rail’s share of container movements to and from Australian ports dipped slightly over the 12 months ending last November, to just 11.4 per cent.

According to the Commission, “the relatively low volumes of containers transported by rail in the monitored ports is due to the high cost of rail operations relative to road transport, especially over short distances, and issues on the reliability of service provision”.

This is despite the fact that “most port authorities recognise the importance of expanding the number of containers being transported by rail”.

To rail’s credit, it’s doing its part to encourage more freight businesses to see rail as the better option. In our feature, starting on page 32, we speak with Pacific National CEO Dean Dalla Valle about the operator’s St Marys Freight Hub, where construction should ramp up later this year. Around four 600-metre trains will travel between Port Botany and St Marys in Western Sydney each day, once operations begin.

Also servicing the Sydney region is LINX’s terminal at Enfield. We had the opportunity to speak with LINX’s Executive GM for Customer & Business Development, Carlo Cutinelli, about the company’s success getting more and more local freight customers to consider rail for their business – that story is on page 40. Our feature also includes an interesting look on page 36 at some new straddle carrier technology ideal for midsized intermodal operations from Combilift, an Irish manufacturer which counts Australia among its top export markets.

Get ready for more Rail Express We’re excited to announce that mid-year Rail Express will move from a bi-monthly to a monthly model. This will mean a new issue every month, starting in July. For our readers it means even more content. For our commercial partners it means even more opportunities to have your message heard by decision makers in the Australasian railsector. If you’re a business looking to get involved, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team here at Rail Express. As always, enjoy this issue. For even more content and up-to-date news, visit our website at RailExpress.com.au, and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter, and follow us on your favourite social media platform.

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