Rail freight now cheaper than road

By Lauren Lewis, Lloyds List DCN

New figures released by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) have indicated that rail is now cheaper than road when moving freight on interstate corridors.

The data has shown that on all but one of the major interstate rail corridors, rail was cheaper than road on the average price for door-to-door consignments.

Trucks only had a very small price advantage over rail on the Melbourne to Adelaide corridor, which was 4.5% cheaper.

When comparing the average cost of trucks to rail freight on the Perth – Melbourne corridor, data indicated that road costs for truck freight were 6.75c per net tonne km, compared with 3.65c for rail.

On the Sydney-Brisbane corridor, freight transport by road would cost an average 8.2c per net tonne km, compared with an average of 7.9c by rail.

ARTC chief executive David Marchant said that rail transport was now around 20% cheaper than road and as rail became more competitive, the industry would see fewer trucks on major roads.

“Many people don't realise that each 1500-metre long train can replace 100 semi-trailers,” he said.

Marchant said that improvements to rail infrastructure had contributed to the increasing efficiency and cost effectiveness of rail versus road.

“One of the biggest boosts to rail freight's competitiveness at the moment is the $2.1bn plus upgrade of the Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane rail line, which includes new passing lanes and loops and signal upgrades.”