<span class="" id="parent-fieldname-description"> Rail operator Aurizon will partner with logistics firm Qube to develop the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal, after the pair reached an agreement with the government entity Moorebank Intermodal Company on Friday last week. </span> <p>Subject to approval from the boards of Qube and Aurizon, who are acting together as the consortium SIMTA, work will begin at the Moorebank site in 2015.<br /><br />Finalisation of the agreement occurred after a six month negotiation, Moorebank Intermodal Company’s chief executive Ian Hunt said.<br /><br />The precinct will include an open access import-export (IMEX) freight terminal with an ultimate capacity of 1.05 million containers a year, and an open access interstate freight terminal with an ultimate capacity of 500,000 containers a year.<br /><br />“The government welcomes a submission from the Moorebank Intermodal Company outlining its proposed approach for developing the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal,” deputy prime minister and minister for infrastructure Warren Truss, along with finance minister Mathias Cormann said in a joint statement.<br /><br />Industry reaction was positive.<br /><br />“This deal on Moorebank reduces the demand for public funding and allows the intermodal centre and supporting developments like warehousing to span both the Commonwealth and SIMTA owned land,” said peak body Infrastructure Partnerships Australia.<br /><br />Michael Kilgariff, managing director of the Australian Logistics Council, which represents major shippers and consignees such as Coles and Woolworths, commented that “one of the keys” to moving freight to and from Port Botany is through the development of a unified, open access, Moorebank.<br /><br />“We therefore welcome [the] confirmation that the Moorebank Intermodal Company and the SIMTA have agreed to develop the Moorebank site on this basis.<br /><br />“[The] announcement is an important milestone in the process to develop a much-needed intermodal facility in Sydney’s south west,” Kilgariff said.</p><p><strong><em>This article features content from our sister publication, Lloyd’s List Australia.</em></strong></p>
