South-east Queensland desperately needs an inland intermodal terminal to ease congestion at the Port of Brisbane, the Sea Freight Council of Queensland says.The Council is calling on the State Government and the transport industry to collaborate on a dry port in a public/private partnership.The group says the project would cost $200 million and compliment waterfront operations, delivering supply chain savings for business.The Council’s CEO, Trevor Jorgensen, says with the freight task growing it would be one of the most important infrastructure projects in the State over the next decade."We’re not equipped to handle the extra load with traffic congestion increasing and productivity struggling to meet demands at container terminals," he says."We need to look at building an efficient inland port to ensure Queensland remains competitive in the global export trade."The inland port could be a freight staging hub, Jorgensen says, with goods consolidated and moved to the port more efficiently, ideally by train.
He says it would ease traffic congestion, improve operational productivity and allow transport companies to plan the movement of goods over a 24-hour cycle."Inland ports have successfully enhanced the productivity and efficiency of supply chains around the world," Jorgensen says.
"It’s time we evaluated the concept in relation to the improvements it would bring to south-east Queensland."