YOUR local
ISSUE 023 FRIDAY, 11 MAY, 2018
6 PAGE RACING GUIDE
YOUR INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY
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pennie scott
IF you’ve ever had to stop at a railway crossing and spent that time counting the number of rail carriages with containers heading south, extend your mind to ask where has all this freight come from and where is it going. In 2017, David Bardos, Business Development Manager for the Port of Melbourne, was responsible for generating 110,000 of the 130,000 twenty-foot-equivalent (TEU) containers carrying freight worth millions of dollars from across the Riverina by rail, to the world. “The exports include 10,000 containers of red meat, 25,000 of grains, 10,000 of rice, 11,000 of cotton, 12,000 of wine, 2200 of oil seeds, 2000 of citrus and 1200 of nuts, as well as a few thousand of other items,” he explained. “The Port of Melbourne has had a presence in the Riverina since 2001 with Casella’s Family Wines and SunRice being the original export customers. “Cotton is one product which is using rail more often now because the gin at Whitton can also pack the bales into containers, and a containerising facility at Bomen packs 100,000 bales of cotton from the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area into 2000 TEU’s for the trip to Melbourne and on to China,” David said. The business of logistics is spread over great distances with infrastructure vital to enabling the collection, warehousing, packing and freight of goods across the nation, and oceans. The linkages between freight facilities of the Western Riverina Freight Intermodal Terminal (WRIFT) halfway between Griffith and Leeton consolidates and loads trains, and the Riverina Intermodal Freight Logistics (RIFL) hub at Bomen doing the same with produce from central and eastern Riverina for the next stages of the journey to the Port of Melbourne. “My service area and the route for the freight schedule starts at Griffith for wines, Leeton for grains, then to SunRice, because they have their own terminal, on to Marrar for grains, then Bomen for cotton, produce from ROBE, Southern Oil and other enterprises, and the final products of pet food and newsprint are loaded at Albury. “By this stage, the train is from 1.5 to 1.8 kilometres long and runs six days every week with the total payload on each train around 3200 tonnes,” David explained. The RIFL project at Bomen capitalises on the excellent location and access to capital cities by improving rail and road connection between Wagga and its position on the important Sydney to Melbourne rail line. The master plan includes: • Rail infrastructure, including a master siding servicing the intermodal terminal, • Installation of turnouts off the Main South Line to facilitate construction of the RIFL Hub Master Siding, • Intermodal terminal for the transfer of containers between road and rail development, and • Adjoining industrial land development. Significant spending on rail infrastructure has been announced by the Australian Government with $9.3 billion for the Inland Rail Project. This public private partnership project is a new 1700 kilometre line and the largest freight rail infrastructure project in Australia. Early works started in 2017 and, based on the 10-year delivery schedule developed in 2015, the first train is expected to operate in 2024-25. The Parkes to Narromine section has commenced. Next time you’re watching a freight train in this region, cast your mind to the huge value of exports from the Riverina to the Port of Melbourne and to the rest of the world.
Mum’s Wellness Workshop Special Guest Joanne Peel
David Bardos, Business Development Manager for the Port of Melbourne.
HIGH TEA AND LUNCH AT ROSELEIGH MANOR Sunday 13th May 2018
INFO AND BOOKINGS PHONE: 02 6928 4420 OVERDALE PATTERSONS ROAD HAREFIELD VIA WAGGA WAGGA www.roseleighmanor.com.au | www.facebook.com/RoseleighManor
$35 Traditional High Tea $40 High Tea With Bubbles $55 3 course Set Lunch Menu $18 Childrens Menu Available