Adelaide-Darwin rail gets first international cargo

<p>FreightLink’s Adelaide-Darwin rail service has secured its first international cargo, to be shipped from the port of Darwin tomorrow (Wednesday, March 24)</p> <p>The company said a "major Australian exporter" is conducting the 2,000-tonne trial shipment to southeast Asia.</p> <p>The as-yet-unidentified cargo was carried by rail from Adelaide for loading in Darwin.</p> <p>FreightLink CEO Bruce McGowan said a successful trial could lead to substantial tonnage increases on the railway.</p> <p>The company hopes to attract enough base cargo volumes to sustain regular shipping services through the port of Darwin, hopefully acting as a catalyst for further import and export business.</p> <p>"The railway’s proximity to extensive mineral deposits in the Northern Territory and South Australia and its link to the port of Darwin’s bulk handling facilities could see the development over the next few years of new mining ventures, generating annual bulk export volumes of up to 1m tonnes a year," Mr McGowan said.</p> <p>FreightLink has also been contracted to export five containers of general freight from Perth to Indonesia along the railway.</p> <br />