Port of Brisbane dedicated freight rail connection
By 2045, container trade at the Port of Brisbane is forecast to increase by 300%, representing an increase of 4.8% per year. The 2015 Australian Infrastructure Audit identified that growth at the Port of Brisbane is likely to become constrained by the lack of a dedicated freight rail connection. The impacts of COVID-19 on global supply chains have also underscored the need for greater resilience in supply chain infrastructure, including land-side infrastructure for the Port of Brisbane, which has the lowest rail utilisation rate out of the 5 capital city ports.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the global container freight supply chain and put excessive pressure on the availability of containers and ships, rapidly increasing freight costs and international shipping delays. Australian ports have not been immune to COVID-19's global supply chain shocks. The ACCC's Container Stevedoring Monitoring Report 2020-21 shows that freight rates on key global trade routes are currently around seven times higher than they were a year ago, and the Port of Brisbane's average on-berth hours for ship visits have risen over 20% from levels that have been largely stable for the past decade. Population growth in South East Queensland is creating congestion on both the road and rail networks, negatively impacting on the productivity of greater Brisbane and the Queensland economy as a whole.
The rail connection to the Port of Brisbane from the south is shared between passenger and freight trains on some sections.
Passenger trains take priority over freight trains, with freight trains constrained to operate to and from the port only during out of peak periods. As freight and passenger demand grows, the shared sections will become further constrained, and additional capacity for freight trains will be required.
The preservation and, ultimately, construction of a dedicated freight rail corridor would allow more freight movements to be removed from the road network, which would help alleviate congestion.
A future upgrade would seek to improve connectivity between the Port of Brisbane and freight terminals in the Brisbane region through preserving and, ultimately, delivering a dedicated freight rail corridor. This would aim to meet the projected increase in freight volumes, while facilitating a modal shift from road to rail.
On 29 November 2019, the Australian and Queensland governments signed a Bi-Lateral Agreement for Inland Rail. The Bi-Lateral Agreement outlines the Australian and Queensland Governments are jointly developing a number of associated projects, which includes the Port of Brisbane Rail Access Study.
We encourage the Australian and Queensland Governments to identify and analyse options (Stage 2 of Infrastructure Australia’s Assessment Framework) and make submissions to us that respond to the problem of dedicated freight rail access to the Port of Brisbane.
Refer to Infrastructure Glossary for terms and definitions.