which the east-coast of Australia really needs to handle the increasing freight load and to get more non-bulk freight off roads and onto rail .
These precincts streamline the entire supply chain by eliminating unnecessary freight movements or “ lifts ,” while also ensuring that road transport is only used for the short-distance , lighter-load deliveries of the “ last mile .”
By reducing the number of lifts required to use a mode of transport which is far better suited to moving freight at scale , means you can start to get significant costbenefits . You also minimise the potential points of disruption and you start to look a bit more competitive with road in terms of reliability and cost – and certainly a lot more attractive in terms of emissions .
An excellent example of one of these modern , large-scale freight and logistic precincts is located in Sydney . The Moorebank Intermodal Precinct ( MIP ) is roughly the size of the Sydney CBD and is linked to Port Botany via a dedicated rail freight line , to critical north-south rail lines via an Interstate Rail Terminal and to major highways via the M5 and M7 .
MIP is currently Australia ’ s largest fully integrated intermodal precinct , but it won ’ t be for long .
The Commonwealth , through its wholly owned entity , National Intermodal , is also planning to develop several more modern intermodal precincts in Melbourne , Brisbane , and Parkes to be strategically located along the InLand Rail route .
InLand Rail , when completed , will provide a 1600km rail freight connection between Melbourne and Brisbane enabling freight to travel between the two cities in less than 24 hours vs the current 33 hours . 4 This will make rail freight as competitive as road freight when it comes to that additional requirement - speed .
In terms of costs , InLand Rail should also continue to place even more downward pressure on freight costs as the route has been designed to manage double-stacked , 1.8 km freight trains .
And lastly , in terms of congestion and emissions , for each 1.8km , double-stacked train over 110 B-double trucks will be removed from our roads . 5
DECARBONISATION But even if we manage to move all freight , except for “ last mile ” deliveries off road and onto rail , there would still be more to do to maintain the competitiveness and performance of the rail freight sector . This is particularly the case with decarbonisation .
Nations , States , corporates and indeed consumers are increasingly looking for more sustainable supply chain outcomes , even if its simply to meet specific regulatory disclosure requirements .
Currently , rail can offer immediate emissions savings to freight customers given rail is three times more fuel efficient than road freight . 6 However , this advantage will not last long , and rail cannot afford to become a “ dirty ” link in any supply chain option .
In the supply chain show in Figure 3 , there is much we can focus on to also ensure our optimised supply chain continues to decarbonise . Firstly , we can improve our existing energy productivity , using less fuel for the same or better outcomes . This can be achived through initiatives such as realtime monitoring of the speed and weather conditions being faced by our rolling stock and truck operations , the optimisation of our networks and their maintenance , the smart scheduling of services and much more .
In short , the better use of readily available information technology and artificial intelligence could immediately help rail operators reduce the amount of liquid fossilfuel they need , even while the industry explores longer-term solutions .
Across the globe and within Australia there is a lot of investment going into the exploration of lower emission fuel alternatives . This includes biofuels and green hydrogen , diesel-hybrids and even battery electric options utilising 100 % renewable energy for charging purposes . While the long distance , heavy-haul , high energy needs of freight can be challenging , there is no doubt more sustainable solutions will be commercialised in the near future .
And lastly , we can look at the built environment itself and the embedded carbon of all our road , rail and intermodal infrastructure . Here we can seek to ensure our city-sized intermodals , warehouses , truck depots and rail infrastructure consider more sustainable designs , circular materials and the use of rooftop solar and batteries wherever feasible . We can also invest in nature-positive biodiversity plans to more than offset the impacts of our supply chain infrastructure .
CONCLUSION Australia , just like every other country in the world , is dependent on its supply chains for its economic wellbeing . Inefficient freight networks lower national productivity levels , raise the cost of goods , negatively impact export competitiveness and are easily disrupted .
In Australia , our preference to move non-bulk freight by road instead of rail , also means our roads are unnecessarily congested , our air unnecessarily polluted and sadly , many of our road accidents potentially avoidable .
However , over the next few years Australia ’ s logistics performance should improve significantly . With large investments in both rail infrastructure and modern intermodals , rail ’ s share of the vital inter-city , non-bulk freight market , should increase significantly . This in turn should put downward pressure on inflation , add billions in GDP and significantly reduce accident , emission , and health costs .
Investing in the efficiency of national supply chains , is therefore never just about investing in the movement of goods . Instead it is about paving the way for a more prosperous , productive , and greener world .
REFERENCES
1 . A tonne-kilometre measures the number of tonnes carried multiplied by distance
2 . Navigating Australia ’ s Freight Future
3 . The Economic Significance of the Australian Logistics Industry , Australian Logistics Council 2014 , p1
4 . https :// inlandrail . com . au / what-is-inland-rail / benefits /
5 . https :// inlandrail . com . au / what-is-inland-rail / benefits /
6 . Move Your Freight On Rail - ARTC
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KYLIE HARGREAVES Kylie Hargreaves is an experienced diplomat , policy maker , nonexecutive director , and private consultant . She is currently Chair of the Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity , Deputy
Chair of Regional Development Australia Sydney , Chief Sustainability Officer at National Intermodal , Senior Advisor at North Harbour Clean Energy , and member of the Expert Panel for the NSW Government ’ s Small Business Innovation & Research Program .
VOL 17 NO 3 2024 10 www . edaustralia . com . au