New operator forecasts need to duplicate freight rail link to port
Linx Cargo Care Group will run Sydney’s Enfield Intermodal Logistics Centre (ILC) after winning a NSW Ports tender for the task.
Linx already controls vehicle logistics firm Autocare, forestry firm C3 and Victorian bulk port GeelongPort.
Presently operated by Aurizon, which has exited intermodal operations, Linx will lease and operate the facility, located 18km from Port Botany, to which it has a direct dedicated freight rail link.
Financial details were not made available.
The company notes that Infrastructure NSW forecasts truck traffic at Port Botany will increase by 400 per cent by 2030, largely driven by expected growth in freight volumes.
Container movements through Port Botany are forecast to increase from more than 2 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) now to 7 million in 2031, creating a bottle-neck through the existing rail line and road network out of the port.
With that in mind, the company flags the need for port link investment.
“Given the forecast for such a significant increase in road and rail congestion across Sydney over the next decade or so, Linx is committed to working closely with the NSW State Government to develop an effective and achievable solution that will reduce the impact of increased freight movements across the city,” Linx CEO Anthony Jones says.
Jones adds that part of the solution could include the duplication of the freight rail line between Port Botany and the interstate corridor mainline.
The Enfield terminal is a 15.1ha leasehold from NSW Ports, with capacity of 300,000 TEU annually.
Located close to Sydney’s major M4 and M5 motorways, with a dedicated freight line to Port Botany and direct access to the interstate mainline corridor, Enfield includes the intermodal terminal, warehousing and buildings with vacant land for the development of rail-related warehousing, freight forwarding, IMEX (Import and Export), transport and distribution facilities.
“Linx is currently working closely with NSW Ports to support the development of a freight hub on the land surrounding the Enfield Intermodal Terminal,” Jones says.
NSW Ports CEO Marika Calfas says one of NSW Ports’ key objectives is increasing the number of containers moved by rail to and from Port Botany.
Linx brings intermodal experience and customers to continue growing rail mode share to and from the port,” Calfas says, adding that operations “will transition from current operator, Aurizon, to Linx in early 2018.
“Aurizon and Linx will be supporting a seamless handover process so that there is continuity of operations for existing customers.”