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Pacific National supporting freight backbone
Intermodal Solutions
Keeping freight the backbone of the economy
Australia’s largest private rail freight company, Pacific National, is responding to growing customer demand by significantly increasing containerised volumes in its intermodal business in the coming years.
It recently unveiled plans to develop a new intermodal container terminal to connect Melbourne’s major freight zone in the west to the Inland Rail network.
Pacific National has secured an option over a large 540-hectare site to construct the terminal and develop a surrounding logistics precinct on the existing interstate rail corridor west of Melbourne’s CBD and port.
CEO Paul Scurrah said the new Little River site is in a prime position on the main interstate rail line and close to the Princes Freeway, delivering efficient freight transport connectivity to nearby logistics companies, distribution centres, warehouses, shippers, and manufacturers.
“Close to Melbourne’s freight centre of gravity, Pacific National’s plans for Little River will help to shift more freight from road to rail until delivery of the Western Interstate Freight Terminal (WIFT),” he said.
Pacific National is investing $20 million to secure land options in Little River and commence detailed planning and design works, with the aim for an 80-hectare intermodal terminal to be operational by 2026 and directly supporting more than 200 frontline rail freight jobs.
“In the future, the broader logistics precinct – serviced by the rail terminal – will feature extensive warehousing, cold storage, and refuelling facilities, generating more than 4000 skilled jobs,” Scurrah said.
The site is located near Melbourne’s major freight catchment zone to the west of the CBD, where more than 70 per cent of containerised rail volumes are concentrated, and conveniently only 39 kilometres by rail to the Port of Melbourne.
Scurrah said a Little River terminal would better service the major east-west market – a critical corridor in the national supply chain – where approximately three million tonnes of containerised freight is hauled annually by rail from Melbourne, to Adelaide, and then across the Nullarbor to Perth.
“Pacific National is investing heavily in an extensive national terminal strategy in response to surging customer demand for containerised interstate rail freight services,” he said.
“The coronavirus pandemic accelerated the trend towards online shopping and led to disruptions and delays in road and shipping operations, creating greater demand for rail freight services.”
Scurrah said Pacific National is securing key sites along the Inland Rail alignment to unlock benefits of the project and haul greater containerised volumes by rail, not only between Melbourne and Brisbane but also from Australia’s east coast to Western Australia.
In recent years, Pacific National has invested $35 million to deliver regional Australia’s largest intermodal terminal at Parkes in the Central West of New South Wales and secured Acacia Ridge Terminal in South East Queensland via a $205 million acquisition – both located on the alignment of the future Melbourne-Brisbane Inland Rail.
Scurrah said several government-sponsored studies had confirmed the best location for a major Victorian interstate rail terminal was west of Melbourne’s CBD and port, in Truganina, rather than to the north.
“Unfortunately delays and funding blocks in progressing the WIFT option, including the proposed enabling infrastructure called the Outer Metropolitan Ring transport corridor,
Each month, Pacific National frontline workers transport about 78,000 containers for almost 400 freight customers.
The coronavirus pandemic has led to disruptions and delays in road and shipping operations, creating greater demand for rail freight services.
mean a terminal cannot be delivered in time to meet industry needs and ahead of completion of the Inland Rail in 2027,” he said.
He said a proposed terminal at Beveridge 55-kilometres north of Melbourne’s CBD and port would derail government plans to shift more freight from trucks to trains.
“Containers picked up by trucks and hauled from the port or a warehouse in Melbourne’s western freight zone will simply travel up the Hume Freeway (M31),” he said.
“It will always be cheaper for those large trucks loaded with freight to keep going, drive past the gates of a terminal in Beveridge and deliver their goods by road across the state border into NSW.”
An intermodal container terminal in Little River will complement a future WIFT in Truganina – both helping to service Melbourne’s growing western freight zone.
“The $15 billion Inland Rail project is forecast to accelerate growth of container freight volumes on the interstate rail network to more than one million TEUs by 2035, making it critical for the Australian and Victorian governments to work closely together to deliver a future WIFT,” he said.
Pacific National estimates if a terminal was located north of Melbourne in Beveridge, instead of west of the CBD and port, it would mean: • An additional 250,000 unnecessary truck trips on Melbourne’s road network a year by 2031, growing to more than 400,000 by 2050 • An extra 900,000 additional truck kilometres on the nation’s interstate road network each day by 2031, growing to more than 1.5 million by 2050
An additional 470,000 tonnes of C02 emissions by 2031, increasing to nearly 800,000 tonnes by 2050 due to extra trucks and loss of rail mode share.
Meanwhile, the company has also reached an agreement with Wagner Corporation to develop a major rail freight terminal at Wellcamp Business Park in the Queensland city of Toowoomba.
Scurrah said both companies were uniquely placed to realise the benefits of the future Inland Rail route.
“Pacific National is the leading provider of containerised interstate rail haulage services in the country, while Wagner Corporation has a superb track record and proven expertise in delivering critical transport and freight infrastructure in Queensland,” he said.
Each month, Pacific National frontline workers are part of 24/7 operations transporting about 78,000 containers for almost 400 freight customers. These services utilise an extensive national network of terminals and 150 locomotives and 1500 wagons.
Scurrah said the Darling Downs region offered both an origin and destination for large quantities of goods and commodities.
Under the agreement, Wagner Corporation will construct the intermodal terminal while Pacific National will operate daily rail freight services under a long-term lease arrangement.
The estimated investment by Wagner Corporation to build the intermodal terminal for Pacific National, construct initial associated connective services and associated warehousing, is $110m with up to 245 jobs generated during construction.
Once operational, the intermodal terminal (which will occupy an area of 23 hectares) will support up to about 400 skilled jobs, including train drivers, terminal staff and associated warehousing staff – many recruited from the region.
Unique features of the multi-modal Wellcamp Logistics Hub include: • Potential to process up to 350,000 shipping containers by 2030 and 500,000 by 2040 • About 2.7 kilometres of frontage to the
Pacific National CEO Paul Scurrah (left) and Wagner Corporation Chairman John Wagner.
future Inland Rail, thereby potentially allowing 1800-metre-long freight trains to operate at the site • Daily international cargo flights via the collocated Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport through its fully licensed and bonded international air cargo terminal. • Initial concept designs for the intermodal terminal within the logistics hub show the capacity to service 1800 metre-long trains.
Wagner Corporation chairman John Wagner said the future Inland Rail will facilitate operation of double-stacked 1800-metrelong interstate freight trains between major terminals across the country.
“These trains need to be broken down into smaller units to help efficiently tranship containers between trains and trucks,” he said.
Scurrah said intermodal freight hubs offered governments and communities the added safety and environmental benefits of shifting more freight volumes from trucks to trains.
“Integrated with Inland Rail, the Wellcamp Logistics Hub will help reduce road accidents and fatalities, traffic congestion, vehicle emissions, and road wear and tear,” he said.
“Picture this – at a minimum, an 1800-metre-long freight train hauling shipping containers is equivalent to removing 140 B-double return truck trips from our roads.”
