Freight Rail

Northline opens Adelaide site

Australian freight business Northline has opened its $23 million Adelaide intermodal terminal, complete with a direct access cargo link to Pacific National’s neighbouring facility.

The transport and logistics facility sits alongside the Kilburn railhead, in Adelaide’s inner north. This eliminates the need for freight to be moved by road between Pacific National and Northline’s facilities.

Northline chief executive Craige Whitton said the new facility represents a major investment in the efficiency and effectiveness of his customers’ supply chains.

“Northline recognises the need for a multi-modal solution to meet customer’s needs which has led us to bringing road and rail closer together as well as ensuring easy access to Australia’s major seaports for import/export,” Whitton said.

The opening follows similar investments by Northline in new depots in Darwin, Brisbane, Townsville and Sydney over the last three years, as well as a move to a dedicated depot in Mackay.

“With investments made over the last 3 years, Northline now has one of the most modern networks of transport and logistics depots across mainland Australia.”

The new Adelaide depot facilitates B-Double movements, and is near Adelaide’s north-south road corridor, which is being upgraded with $2.5 billion in federal and state funding. It will also be a Quarantined Approved Premises (QAP), and therefore customs compliant.

The 10,440 square metre facility is built on 30,000 square metres of hard stand, and includes 3,500 square metres of warehousing space with modern high bay racking, along with a 440 square metre wash bay and container servicing area.

Pacific National Intermodal general manager Andrew Adam welcomed the Adelaide investment, and recognised the need for greater collaboration between road and rail transport providers.

“Northline’s facility represents the first intermodal cargo link operation in South Australia,” Adam said.

“The benefits of the direct movement of rail containers between the rail terminal and Northline’s facility is already being shown with a reduction of trucks on the road and an overall improvement in supply chain efficiency.”

Northline said the new depot also continues its ongoing relationship with real estate developer Gibb Group, which helped facilitate the development.

Gibb Group Managing Director Matthew Gibb said we’re a customer oriented developer and focus on forming long-term relationships with our clients.

“This is at the core of what we do,” Gibb Group managing director Matthew Gibb said. “So we are naturally very excited and proud to be delivering our third facility for Northline and our first in Adelaide.”

Northline now has 13 branches across Australia.