Thursday, 28 August 2025

Rail freight services

Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (23:36): (1904) My adjournment this evening is to the Minister for Public and Active Transport. Minister, the upcoming works at Sunshine station to enable Melbourne Airport rail and future electrification to Melton will be beneficial for passenger rail, but recent media reports indicate that the current designs would cause significant problems for freight rail. The current designs seem to sever a crucial link between the Ballarat line and a number of ports and terminals in Melbourne’s west. Removing this link would mean a detour via Geelong that is 47 kilometres further. According to the media reports, grain handler CHS Broadbent would not proceed with its intermodal facility in Ballarat West, freight operator Pacific National would have to cut half of its trains carrying dairy products and other freight operators have expressed similar concerns.

The net impact of this will be not only the inconvenience but hundreds more trucks on the roads through regional Victoria and Melbourne’s western suburbs, with all the pollution, congestion and danger to pedestrians that that entails. This has echoes of Labor’s botched Murray Basin rail project, which was essentially abandoned halfway through when the money ran out and has resulted in trains from Mildura diverting via Ararat, adding a whopping 128 kilometres to their trip to port. To reduce traffic congestion, road damage, road trauma and carbon emissions, Victoria does need to be increasing the proportion of freight that travels by rail. Minister, the action I seek is that you ensure our rail network has the infrastructure in place to support freight on rail.