A CLEAR path for double-stacked container trains from Hastings in Melbourne to the national rail network needs to be created, says EW (Bill) Russell, deputy director of the Australasian Centre for the Governance and Management of Urban Transport at the University of Melbourne.
"Melbourne is Australia's largest container port, with a very rapid growth trajectory. From a million TEU in 1997 to two million in 2007, the expected throughput is seven million a year by 2035," he told an Australian Broadcasting Corporation listening audience.
"This level of traffic needs efficient and large capacity ships, handling facilities, trucks and trains if it is to be handled at the least financial and social cost," he said.
Already, with two million containers passing through the port, and only 17 per cent going by rail, there are choke points on the road and freeway system. Francis Street, Yarraville, a major truck route from the port, is subject to a night truck curfew but is close to uninhabitable," he said.
Prof Russell said Melbourne's Western Ring Road often presents a wall of speeding trucks, where private motorists venture at their own risk.
"A single container train can replace a hundred semi trailers - and a train can pass through an urban area with a much lighter footprint. Railways take up far less urban space than do freeways, with their many lanes, central reservations, and incredibly wasteful interchanges," he said.
"From an environmental point of view, the greenhouse footprint of rail freight is a fraction of that of road transport. Forward thinking governments around the world, such as the Queensland government, have built new container ports that can readily be served by long container trains - a kilometre long if needed - down river and away from intense urban development," Prof Russell said.
|
