"In an era of extreme weather events, geo-political tensions and broader supply chain disruptions, additional services using multiple transport modes will increase resilience and is more than welcomed by our broad membership of exporters, importers, and logistics specialists. Many of these businesses value speed, predictability, and optionality with the likes of FMCG and high value and time sensitive freight importers open to higher freight rates in return for these factors. The key benefit to importers will relate to managing working capital and supply chain optionality.
The Aurizon proposal has the potential for faster stock delivery than traditional services and would free up shipping lines from completing extended voyages around Australia. The service also provides additional scope to be an alternative gateway to global export markets for key agriculture sectors. Whether this translates to economic modelling to make the land bridging commercially viable will only be known as the project unfolds.
The option to shorten slow-speed marine services and replace part of the route with higher speed rail service has particularly ignited the interest to our freight forwarding members who are actively re-examining traditional supply chain models to meet ESG reporting requirements whilst offering a guarantee of service to overcome projected port congestion forecasts. Green (rail) supply chains will undoubtedly play a major role in landside operations into the future whether that be moving large container volumes from ports to metropolitan intermodal terminals, through to the ambitious initiative to land bridge from Darwin to other key locations throughout Australia. .
ent report by the Victorian Auditor-General's Office has raised serious concerns as to how the Victorian government is going to achieve its target of 30% of container movements on rail by 2050. Unless the (Victorian) government can incentivise and promote the use of container movements on rail via the Port of Melbourne, other solutions will be essential to achieve prescribed reductions in carbon emissions and to service the Melbourne metropolitan market in the decades ahead."
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