Fremantle Ports is keen to see a significant increase in the use of rail to move containerised cargo to and from the Inner Harbour.

One of the major advantages that rail offers is reduced traffic congestion on roads, assisting in reducing environmental and social impacts.

One 600-metre-long train carrying single-stacked containers is the equivalent of about 50 trucks on the road. The same train with double-stacked containers is the equivalent of about 80 trucks.

Greater fuel efficiency is another factor in rail’s favour. Road transport may consume about four times as much fuel as rail per container on a short haul, and over six times as much on the long haul across Australia.

The amount of container freight carried by rail changes with fluctuations in trade, and has varied from two per cent to above seven per cent in past years. Our aim is to significantly increase the share of containers moved to and from the port by rail, and a target share of 30 per cent has been set.

The goal of an increased share for freight rail was supported by the Freight Network Review initiated by the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure and conducted during 2001-02. This is similar to the national trend towards greater use of freight rail. Community surveying undertaken as party of this review confirmed strong community support for increased use of rail, and research carried out by Fremantle Ports into the commerciality of rail services to North Quay concluded that this goal is achievable in the longer term.

As well as increasing the role of rail for carrying containerised cargo to and from the Kewdale-Forrestfield area to link up with the interstate rail network, Fremantle Ports believes there is also significant potential for increased use of rail rather than road to move containerised goods to and from regional centres in Western Australia.