Logistics News

ALC calls for preservation of rail corridor to Brisbane Port

Kilgariff says long-term planning is essential to improve supply chain efficiency in the future

 

Protecting key freight corridors is important to ensure Australia is able to meet future infrastructure demands, the Australian Logistics Council states.

Preserving an alternative rail corridor for the final section of the Inland Rail route that links it directly to the Port of Brisbane should be an “immediate consideration” of the project, ALC MD Michael Kilgariff says.

Addressing the Queensland Transport Infrastructure Conference in Brisbane today, Kilgariff says effective long-term planning is essential to improve the efficiency of supply chains.

“It is estimated that the existing rail link to the Port of Brisbane can meet demand for the next decade, however we must start to plan beyond that point now,” he says.

“It is very important that when we construct Inland Rail, key future freight corridors are protected and preserved, so that our freight infrastructure will be able to accommodate demand levels that will exist decades from now.”

With international demand for Australian export products expected to rise in the future, the Port of Brisbane will become an even valuable economic asset, he says.

“The best way to reap the full benefits from the substantial public investment now being made in Inland Rail is to undertake the work that will seamlessly link this project with the Port of Brisbane”

“Freight corridor preservation isn’t something we can put off and worry about in a decade’s time.

“As experience has shown, delay simply makes building infrastructure a more costly proposition down the line.”

“Undertaking the necessary corridor preservation now – and encouraging governments to work with private sector partners to build the link as soon as feasibly possible – will make the Inland Rail an even more valuable asset, and provide a further boost for exports and jobs growth in Queensland.”

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