<span class="" id="parent-fieldname-description"> The Federal and Victorian Governments have come together to progress planning on the proposed Western Interstate Freight Terminal (WIFT), a facility with the potential to ease congestion around the Port of Melbourne and take more than 700,000 trucks a year of the city’s roads. </span> <p>Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said the development of this new piece of infrastructure would complement the capital works programs which were currently rebuilding more than a third of the 10,000km Interstate Rail Freight Network.</p><p>“New sleepers, track, passing loops and signalling technology alone will not be enough to fully restore rail’s competitiveness and reliability. It also needs to be better integrated with other modes of transport, including our ports and roads,” said Mr Albanese.</p><p>“An intermodal facility in Melbourne’s west certainly has the potential to achieve precisely that. That’s why we are working with the Victorian Government to progress this proposal with the funding necessary to complete a pre-feasibility study into the project.”</p><p>The Western Interstate Freight Terminal (WIFT) pre-feasibility study is being funded by the Federal ($3.5 million) and Victorian ($1.5 million) Governments. If given the final go-ahead, the project would include the construction of an interstate terminal and freight precinct at Truganina in Melbourne’s west as well as a link to the Interstate Rail Freight Network.</p><p>Currently interstate containers bound for distribution in Melbourne are railed to terminals adjacent to the Port and then trucked to the outer suburbs. An intermodal facility at Truganina would do away with the need for interstate trains and trucks to come into the Port precinct.</p><p>Victorian Public Transport and Roads Minister Terry Mulder said the WIFT would reduce freight traffic through the inner west, potentially removing up to 2,000 truck movements from the precinct every day.</p><p>“The WIFT would reduce truck movements in Melbourne’s inner west, open up land side capacity for the Port of Melbourne, Australia’s largest container and general cargo port, and enhance Victoria’s reputation as the nation’s freight and logistics hub,” Mr Mulder said.</p><p>“The WIFT makes sense. It closes one of the biggest missing links in Victoria’s interstate rail freight network and improves efficiency by freeing up rail and road capacity in this inner city precinct, allowing freight to be distributed from outside of the CBD.</p><p>“The Victorian Coalition Government is committed to growing freight on rail, and projects such as the WIFT will improve liveability for the community by promoting the use of rail while at the same time providing real economic and environmental benefits,” Mulder concluded.<br /> </p>
