Works will begin soon in Altona to connect terminals to the Port of Melbourne
In a major boost for Victoria’s freight and logistics industry, the state government is commencing works on a freight rail facility to help move more freight by rail from Melbourne’s west.
The SCT Logistics interstate freight facility will be based in Altona and will provide easier access to the Port of Melbourne, with work now underway.
Once complete it will form a major part of the state’s port rail shuttle network and will allow for a direct rail connecting to the Port of Melbourne, resulting in slashed transport costs for businesses.
In a plan to take trucks off Melbourne roads, the project is also expected to provide 40 new jobs and strengthen the workforce of many Victorians.
It will also help increase efficiency at Australia’s largest port, which already handles around 36 per cent of the nation’s container trade according to the Victorian government.
SCT Logistics will tip in $16 million into the facility to expand container hard-stand area and rail-siding extensions alongside a joint government $9.2 million investment.
Altona is one of three key projects being delivered to create the Port Rail Shuttle Network, with works linking the Salta Properties terminal in Dandenong South to the Port of Melbourne already underway.
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Further works at the Austrak terminal at Somerton will commence later this year, with the result reducing the need for trucks to visit the port.
Trucks will instead be able to deliver to these terminals, reducing fuel use and emissions while cutting freight transport costs by up to 10 per cent according to the state government.
“An expanded rail freight terminal in Altona will provide an alternative to truck transport for the logistics community and reduce truck traffic at the port along the Princes Freeway and other key arterial and suburban roads,” minister for ports and freight Melissa Horne says.
SCT Logistics managing director Geoff Smith says: “We are proud to be working in partnership and investing more than $16 million at Altona to improve our inland port capability with a direct rail connection to the Port of Melbourne to receive and dispatch port shuttle trains.”