Port of Melbourne welcomes $3.1 billion in new Commonwealth Government commitments
Port of Melbourne welcomes $3.1 billion in new Commonwealth Government commitments to deliver the $3.6 billion Melbourne Intermodal Terminal Package to accommodate future Inland Rail services and strengthen the national supply chain, according to the company's release.
Both the Western and Beveridge freight terminals are critical over the long term to support economic growth and livability by moving more freight on rail.
With 37 percent of containers imported through the port destined for the outer western suburbs1 the Port supports the Western Intermodal Freight Terminal (WIFT) as the immediate priority. WIFT provides the most effective consolidation point for the majority of the Port’s international import and export containers that are located to the west and north of Melbourne, as the Port’s 2020 Container Logistics Chain Study found.
Port of Melbourne supports the increased use of rail to move freight, as evidenced by its investment of more than $125m in the Port Rail Transformation Project (PRTP) as part of a suite of major initiatives to sustain the Port’s standing as a world-class port facility. The PRTP is designed to enhance existing and build new rail infrastructure within the port precinct to connect to metropolitan and regional intermodal freight terminals.