Labor’s Rail Freight Network Capability Statement comes after more than nine years of dithering and shrinking proportions of freight transported by rail.
Despite talking up the need to increase freight transported by rail, total rail freight task – the proportion of total freight transported by rail – has fallen from 12 per cent to just over 5 per cent over the past decade.
All the while, key intermodal freight projects remain incomplete, including the Port Rail Shuttle Network and the Murray Basin Rail Project.
Shadow Minister for Ports and Freight, Roma Britnell, said: “Labor talks a big game about the importance of goods such as grain, grapes and wine being transported by freight, yet they have allowed Victoria’s freight network to wither on the vine.
“If they were serious, they’d get on and deliver the Port Rail Shuttle Network and the Murray Basin Rail Project, both long delayed and well overdue.
“For the Allan Government to put out a statement boasting of their achievements on rail freight show they are simply trying to spin their way out of their commitments.
“Labor have failed the freight network for nearly a decade and seemingly have no comprehension of how to get freight onto rail, with some journeys even taking longer after completion of supposed rail line upgrades.”
