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The runaway rise in freight at Australia\u2019s busiest container port was moved exclusively on trucks, as the proportion of containers moved on rail remained stuck at just below 6 per cent \u2013 and only to regional or interstate destinations, not metropolitan areas \u2013 the second-smallest share in the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The port\u2019s 2050 strategy, published in 2020, forecast that the number of trucks visiting the port each weekday could rise from 11,000 to 34,000 by 2050, even with movement of some containers to rail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An updated document, published last week, says larger trucks and off-peak pick-ups could offer an adequate medium-term solution until rail links become established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is frustration in the community and with the port\u2019s operators, as ambitions to shift more freight onto trains continue to languish and plans for an urban freight rail network struggle to take off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So far, the Commonwealth and state governments and the Port of Melbourne\u2019s owners have collectively spent $183 million on the Port Rail Shuttle project<\/a>, a network of freight rail lines and terminals between the port and Melbourne\u2019s three major industrial precincts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project would see container trains shuttle between those locations and the port. The trains would be a uniform 600 metres long, carrying up to 84 six-metre-long shipping containers \u2013 a trip that would otherwise require about 42 trucks, slashing the number needing to travel on metropolitan roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But making it work relies on private operators pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into building terminals in Altona, Somerton and Dandenong South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While that investment has been committed to, only the Altona terminal is complete, with construction of Somerton<\/a> under way and work due to begin in Dandenong South by the end of 2025, according to the site\u2019s owner, Salta Properties.<\/p>\n\n\n Residents of Melbourne\u2019s inner west, who have long fought against trucks in their neighbourhoods<\/a>, are frustrated by the lack of progress on rail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yarraville mother of three Jessica Marsh said the predicted increase in trucks was \u201cterrifying\u201d and she worried about the impacts of pollution on her family, particularly given the West Gate Tunnel<\/a> \u2013 which is supposed to remove trucks from local streets \u2013 is\u00a0being built without filtration on its vents<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe community has been let down by a lack of protection from impacts of industrial activity,\u201d Marsh said. \u201cA lot more could be done for air quality and safety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Port Rail Shuttle was conceived more than 20 years ago to support rail to absorb a 30 per cent share of container movements around the city \u2013 a significant promise for road users given 90 per cent of containers managed by the port stay within metropolitan Melbourne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rail Futures Institute president John Hearsch first worked on the project in 2005 and has continued to consult on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith Melbourne being the busiest port in Australia for container traffic and … one of the most congested from a truck point of view, it was an obvious thing [to do],\u201d Hearsch said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The concept remains as compelling today as when it was first conceived but will struggle to materialise until the government provides industry with incentives to shift operations from road to rail, he argues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIts major flaw … is that this can\u2019t really happen without some financial support, at least for the early years until the business builds up to the stage where it\u2019s self-sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Port of Melbourne invested $125 million in its rail terminal on Swanson Dock to \u201csee more containers moved by rail more efficiently, bypassing roads in inner Melbourne\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The port\u2019s chief executive, Saul Cannon, said it was disappointing that trains still shifted such a small proportion of freight in Victoria, and none around Melbourne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cannon said freight rail was \u201cstill in start-up mode\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShort-haul rail, if you look globally, is hard to make work and it\u2019s about scale,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we need the terminals developed and operational so that that opportunity is really there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n Victorian Transport Association chief executive Peter Anderson, who represents the state\u2019s heavy vehicle industries, said freight operators would only move to rail once it made financial sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe trick for rail services to work is to find a connection [between trucks and trains] that is sharp and efficient. If it\u2019s not efficient, then people will just use road,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cPeople just go \u2018Bugger it, I\u2019ll just go with trucks.\u2019 It\u2019s easier, door-to-door.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the latest published data, rail carries just 5.8 per cent of the containers through the Port of Melbourne<\/a>. Only Brisbane has a lower proportion among Australia\u2019s five capital city ports, at just 1.5 per cent.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image-25.jpeg\")
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