{"id":259703,"date":"2025-07-31T16:44:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T06:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=259703"},"modified":"2025-12-22T17:33:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T07:33:10","slug":"agreement-between-australias-largest-rail-freight-company-and-victorias-largest-intermodal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=259703","title":{"rendered":"Agreement between Australia\u2019s largest rail freight company and Victoria\u2019s largest intermodal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In a major development for both the Victorian and national rail supply chains, Australia\u2019s largest rail freight company and the state\u2019s newest and largest intermodal terminal have signed an agreement for the utilisation of the facility for the handling of containerised freight for up to nine years.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image_2025-07-31_164112070-1024x683.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-259704\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image_2025-07-31_164112070-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image_2025-07-31_164112070-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image_2025-07-31_164112070-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image_2025-07-31_164112070.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Intermodal Terminal Company CEO Mishkel Maharaj said: \u201cThe services agreement relating to the $400 million Melbourne Intermodal Terminal (MIT) will provide Aurizon and its customers with interstate freight train services from Melbourne\u2019s north via the largest and arguably the most state-of-the-art intermodal terminal in Victoria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAurizon\u2019s supply chain customers will benefit from the intermodal terminal incorporating the latest technologies in safety and operational efficiency as well as being large enough to accommodate Aurizon\u2019s interstate growth plans. Aurizon and its customers also have the added benefit of the terminal being centrally located in Melbourne\u2019s fast growing northern industrial and logistics precinct with efficient access to other major industrial zones in the greater metropolitan area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aurizon Bulk &amp; Containerised Freight Group Executive George Lippiatt said: \u201cThe new MIT has opened up new opportunities for Aurizon as it continues to grow national container volumes and enhance service offerings for customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIntermodal terminals are critical to the growth of freight supply chains in Australia and ensuring rail can do the heavy lifting for interstate rail linehaul services across the nation,\u201d George said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis terminal is strategically located and provides efficient connections to the national rail network and the Port of Melbourne creating opportunities for rail to support new markets across Australia. \u201cI have seen firsthand the investment being made in the MIT to create a high-capacity efficient terminal for both interstate and import-export rail services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aurizon welcomes the opportunity to utilise MIT which provides an alternative to the current footprint of Melbourne for rail freight. \u201cWe are excited by the future of the freight and logistics investments and developments in the northern Melbourne suburbs and will be working with existing and potential customers to realise the benefits of the MIT,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image_2025-07-31_164128129.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-259705\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image_2025-07-31_164128129.png 480w, https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image_2025-07-31_164128129-225x300.png 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Backed by Aware Super, the Melbourne Intermodal Terminal (MIT) is a central component to a broader development being undertaken by Aware Real Estate and global asset management firm Barings to establish a major integrated industrial and logistics precinct at Somerton called the Melbourne Intermodal &amp; Industrial Exchange (MIIX).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The total investment of these terminal and precinct developments is $1.6 billion, representing the largest privately funded enhancement to the Victorian freight and logistics sector in a generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, construction of ITC\u2019s 45-hectare MIT is 90% complete, with the 15-hectare Inner Terminal due to commence operations in October this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Crucially, the MIT is located where the freight is, within a seven-kilometre radius of the MIT is currently three million square metres of warehousing, and the investment into MIIX will grow this further. For perspective, the total combined 31-hectare inner and outer terminal hardstand areas of the future MIT will be equivalent to approximately 14 MCG AFL fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr Maharaj said connecting and integrating rail networks, terminals and services to existing precincts of concentrated freight demand and consolidation is fundamental in helping to stimulate customers in the supply chain to better utilise the economic, environmental and social benefits of hauling large volumes of freight by rail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMIT customers will benefit from co-located warehousing from the surrounding MIIX, while end customers in the supply chain like supermarket chains and big box retailers will have the added bonus of using rail in their transport operations to help reduce Scope 3 carbon emissions,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aurizon welcomes the opportunity to utilise MIT which provides an alternative to the current footprint of Melbourne for rail freight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":26765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,47],"tags":[993,17605,8],"class_list":["post-259703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-intermodal","category-rail-news","tag-melbourne","tag-melbourne-intermodal-terminal","tag-victoria"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=259703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259706,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259703\/revisions\/259706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=259703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=259703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=259703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}