Tuesday, 10 September 2024

Western Metropolitan Region

Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (12:56): (1100) My question is for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure regarding the projected increase in truck congestion following Pacific National’s decision to withdraw from the Werribee rail freight hub development. Could the minister please provide an update to my constituents on the government’s plans to mitigate the growing truck traffic and congestion on Melbourne’s western suburban roads, given the cancellation of this project? The Werribee rail freight hub was a key intermodal rail project that would have significantly reduced truck traffic on local roads. Last Wednesday, Pacific National announced the cancellation of this project following the Allan government’s earlier decision to shelve the plan for the western interstate freight terminal. This has left Melbourne’s west, which handles 20 per cent of Victoria’s container transport, without a long-term solution to ease road congestion. The abandoned project would have removed 250,000 truck trips by 2031. The cancellation risks increasing truck congestion, and this is a serious concern.