The Intermodal Terminal Company (ITC) and above-rail freight operator Southern Shorthaul Railroad (SSR) have entered into an agreement for the future delivery of haulage services to and from the currently under construction Somerton Intermodal Terminal in Melbourne’s north.
The $400 million terminal is expected to commence operations in late 2025. The site is just 22.5 kilometres from the largest container and general cargo port in Australia – the Port of Melbourne – and spans 45 hectares in one of the industrial heartlands of the region.
ITC CEO Mishkel Maharaj says the size of and investment in the Somerton Intermodal Terminal has the potential to shift the freight movement landscape of the entire region.
“Not only does the future open access intermodal terminal at Somerton feature more than 30 hectares of terminal hardstands and nine rail slidings to facilitate both interstate and import/export operations, but it will also provide customers with on-site facilities to wash, repair and fumigate shipping containers,” Maharaj says.
“The sheer size and scale of the future intermodal terminal at Somerton will allow the efficient and cost-effective decoupling and loading/unloading of 600-metre port shuttle services and 1500 and 1800-metre interstate freight trains.
“In addition to the $400 million intermodal development, Aware Real Estate in partnership with Barings also recently invested $600 million to acquire a large existing industrial precinct at Somerton in the heart of Melbourne’s busy northern freight catchment zone.
“A billion dollars has now been privately invested to deliver a fully integrated large-scale freight and logistics precinct in Somerton, with supply chain customers having the benefit of being able to access interstate, regional and port shuttle rail freight services at one central location.”
Initial capacity of the future ITC open access intermodal terminal at Somerton will be approximately one million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) each year.
SSR operates over 110 freight locomotives and 1300 container and bulk wagons to deliver roughly 170 weekly rail services for customers in interstate and regional supply chains.
“I’m delighted a 100 per cent Australian owned and operated rail freight operator like SSR can partner with a company like ITC, which is backed by one of Australia’s largest superannuation companies, Aware Super,” SSR Owner Jason Ferguson says.
“I’m proud to say SSR has developed a strong reputation in the sector for providing unrivalled technical rail freight expertise and experience in delivering end-to-end haulage solutions for customers in the supply chain.”
ITC estimates the operation of the future terminal will help remove the equivalent of over 500,000 truck trips each year from Melbourne’s streets, roads and motorways, notably in surrounding inner-city suburbs.
The removal of the estimated number of truck trips would see a 189,000-tonne reduction in emissions each year, which is equivalent to the CO2 emissions released from consuming around 64 million litres of diesel.
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