Logistics News

FORG in productivity action call for rail freight

Help from senior bureaucrats sought to speak at TIC meeting

 

The Freight on Rail Group (FORG) of Australia is seeking to speak at the next Transport and Infrastructure Council (TIC) to help gain the sort of traction road transport has gained recently.

The group, which represents major rail and intermodal operators, including Pacific National, SCT and Qube, amongst other rail-related operations, is concerned a lack of focus on helping shift obstacles to rail productivity will undermine initiatives already underway, such as Inland Rail, the NSW Fixing Country Rail initiative and the Murray Basin Rail Project.

“With key road freight corridors either fully upgraded or undergoing major upgrades, (e.g. Hume, Pacific Bruce, Newell, Princes, Great Western, Great Eastern and Golden highways) a regulatory environment not fully atuned to the operating needs of rail feight will result in more freight shifting from trains to trucks,” a letter to federal infrastructure department secretary and Transport and Infrastructure Senior Officals Committee chair Dr Stephen Kennedy states


See how FORG reads a shift in attitudes to rail, here


Noting there is more the sector can do, FORG is looking to more clearly and concisely state its case on the challenges and obstacles the sector faces to state and territory department heads and major decision-makers.

“It is long overdue for Australia’s rail freight sector to have a seat at the TIC table,” FORG chair Dean Dalla Valle says.

“FORG represents the nation’s largest rail freight operators and infrastructure managers, employing more than 20,000 people across Australia and generating $11 billion each year in revenue for the nation.

“In terms of large-scale investment in rail freight and what it takes to successfully run above and below rail operations in Australia’s vast transport supply chain; if you are not talking to us, you are not in the know.

“Australians from every walk of life want safer roads, less traffic congestion during their daily commute and lower vehicle emissions – hauling bulk goods and commodities by rail ticks all these boxes.”   

 

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