Connectivity, Cooperation and Communities Key Themes To Emerge From Parkes
02 August 2018
ARA: The Inland Rail Conference
2018 jointly presented by the
Australian Logistics
Council (ALC) and the Australasian Railway Association
(ARA) in Parkes NSW on 18-19 July 2018 has identified
the challenges and opportunities presented by this nation-building
project.
With around 400 people in attendance over the event’s
two days, there
was ample opportunity for
Inland Rail to be examined from a variety of
perspectives.
Supported by Gold Sponsor, the
Australian Rail Track Corporation
(ARTC) as well as the
Parkes Shire Council,
attendees also heard keynote presentations from leading political
figures and executives associated with Inland
Rail.
The conference helped to clarify priorities for businesses, governments
and local communities, and clearly set out what needs to be done next to
ensure the significant public investment being made to construct the
Inland Rail delivers real benefits for
supply chain efficiency, safety,
export competitiveness, employment and regional development.
Among the key action priorities to emerge were:
-
Ensuring that the Melbourne-Brisbane transit time of under 24 hours is adhered to – an absence of reliability and certainty will undermine market confidence;
-
Securing the cooperation and active involvement of the Victorian, NSW and Queensland state governments to construct the project;
-
Dealing with the ‘last mile’ issues by getting the planning and construction of links to the Port of Brisbane and the Port of Melbourne, as well as ensuring efficient rail linkages to key ports in NSW;
-
Using the multi-jurisdictional nature of the project to drive harmonisation of planning, environmental, freight data and industry training standards. National consistency in these areas will have benefits lasting well beyond the Inland Rail’s construction period;
-
Ensuring we equip the current and emerging workforce with skills needed to construct, maintain and operate the Inland Rail. This is imperative given Australia’s ‘infrastructure boom’ and ageing workforce;
-
Proactively engaging with local communities through local councils, schools and other relevant bodies to ensure they appreciate and can take advantage of the opportunities Inland Rail presents;
-
Partnering with the private sector to drive innovation in how the project is delivered and push further direct and indirect investment along the route
-
Demonstrating the absolute necessity of the Inland Rail project by highlighting negative consequences for Australia’s supply chain efficiency, traffic congestion, passenger rail services and road safety without vastly improved freight rail infrastructure; and
-
Putting data gathering frameworks in place that will enhance freight visibility and demonstrate the viability of Inland Rail as the right mode for particular commodities;
The response to this first
industry-led conference focussed entirely on Inland Rail was phenomenal,
and shows that industry participants are eager to work cooperatively
with governments to deliver this transformation for Australia’s freight
networks in the years ahead.
Inland Rail will also form a central part of the National Freight and
Supply Chain Strategy that is currently being developed by the Federal
Government. Accordingly, it will be essential to focus on the
development of infrastructure that supports Inland Rail’s seamless
integration into the rest of our freight network, including linkages to
ports and the development of intermodal terminals.
The conference showed there is enormous enthusiasm for Inland Rail
across a wide range of industries and a diverse range of communities, be
it
ports in our major cities or smaller regional communities eager to
capitalise on its economic development opportunities.
The challenge for industry, governments and all those associated with
this project over the next year as construction begins will be to
harness that enthusiasm, using it to ensure continued progress on the
project, while also deepening community awareness about rail’s critical
role in improving our export competitiveness and meeting Australia’s
future freight task.
Following the success of this inaugural event, ALC and the ARA are now
exploring opportunities to stage the next Inland Rail Conference in
Toowoomba in mid-2019.
--ENDS--
Source: Australasian Railway Association (ARA) - www.ara.net.au
Contact: Simon Morgan 0403 477 131 Duncan Sheppard 0412 340 934
External Links: N/A
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