December 6, 2024 - New projects and partnerships have brightened prospects for grain to be railed rather than road-freighted to Victorian ports in both bulk and containers.
Among the latest to be announced is the connection to rail of UCM's Moama site at Barnes on the Moulamein-Barnes Crossing line in the far south of New South Wales (NSW), following its operation for some years as a road-only site adjacent to the line decommissioned in the 1980s.
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UCM Moama is a major container-packing facility, and also accumulates bulk grain. From next year, it will be able to offer customers rail as well as road outlaws, and receive empty containers for packing by rail.
"In another major signal to industry that the Victorian broad-gauge freight network is growing, a new grain terminal is being opened for rail, 15km north of Echuca at Barnes, with new connections at Tocumwal and Geelong to follow," the Victorian Government said of the UCM Moama site.
"The Barnes grain terminal is the first to be connected to rail in a generation."
Design is well advanced on the Tocumwal site in NSW, which will connect Kelly Grains to rail, and the Geelong site is Broadbent's export terminal, now under construction.
The spend is part of the Victoria Government's AU$104 million (£52,313,560) 2024-25 budget package, which includes funding for a crossing loop at Korong Vale capable of handling 50-wagon trains, and replacement of seven km of track at Boort.
When completed next year, this will allow higher speeds and heavier axle loads on the Korong Vale-Manangatang line, one of Victoria's busiest grain corridors which services the Ultima intermodal terminal near Swan Hill.
The package has also funded 75,000 concrete sleepers ordered for installation on the standard-gauge Yelta line which terminates near Mildura.
Growth for SSR
The AU$104 million package was announced this week by Victorian Minister for Ports and Freight Melissa Horne and Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards at the Bendigo Rail Workshops, a maintenance hub for freight and passenger rolling stock run by private operator Southern Shorthaul Railroad (SSR).
In August, SSR took delivery of 22 new broad-gauge high-capacity grain wagons, a AU$5 million (£2,515,475) investment and SSR's first new-build broad-gauge rolling stock in the company's 21-year history.
SSR has many years' experience in hauling for Emerald Grain, which was bought by Louis Dreyfus Company in 2022, and is also a major operator is NSW.
The Emerald purchase rolled several grain-handling sites in southern NSW and northern Victoria, as well as Melbourne's only bulk grain terminal, into LDC.
In September, SSR increased its broad-gauge volume for LDC from 20 to 40 wagons, doubling capacity to 300,000 tonnes per annum and removing the need for a further 3400 annual truck trips.
Surplus V/Line Passenger N Class locomotives currently on short-term lease to SSR are also moving product to port as volumes increase, and customers embrace efficiencies of moving bulk on rail.
Rail services in Victoria hauled around 390,000 tonnes of grain, container freight and crushed rock in October 2024, up to 51% from the October 2019 figure, with the difference equating to 3000 truck trips on regional roads.
Somerton arrangement announced
SSR and the Intermodal Terminal Company (ITC) last month entered into an agreement for the future delivery of haulage services to and from the AU$400 million (£201,226,000) Somerton Intermodal Terminal in Melbourne's north.
"ITC is delighted to have entered into an agreement with highly respected and experienced rail-freight operator SSR for the provision of interstate, regional and port shuttle haulage services at the future open-access intermodal terminal in Somerton," ITC Chief Executive Officer Mishkel Maharaj said.
Somerton's rail services are expected to start late next year.
"The future open access intermodal terminal will enable customers in the north to efficiently utilise rail freight shuttle operations to and from the Port of Melbourne, not to mention allowing future customers to access interstate and regional services."
The Somerton terminal will feature more than 30ha of terminal hardstands and nine rail siding to facilitate both interstate and import/export operations, and will provide customers with on-site facilities to wash, repair and fumigate shipping containers.
The 45ha Somerton terminal will link to ARTC's 75000km standard-gauge interstate network and Victoria's standard and broad-gauge regional branch and metropolitan, including the dual-gauge Port Rail Shuttle Network, lines.
SSR owner Jason said SSR was excited to be involved in such a critical piece of productive rail-freight infrastructure for both the Victorian and national supply chains.
"I'd delighted a 100% 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," Mr Ferguson said.
"Over the past 20 years, SSR has grown into an above-rail operator which now operates more than 110 freight locomotives and 1300 container and bulk wagons to deliver approximately 170 weekly rail services for customers in interstate and regional supply chains.
"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."
The Global MillerThis blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
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