Sydney intermodal terminals to remain common user and open access: Tripodi

<p>Proposed new Sydney intermodal terminals &#8211 at Enfield and the former defence site at Moorebank &#8211 would be common user and open access, transport minister Joe Tripodi said yesterday (Thursday, June 14).</p> <p>Open access operations were the preferred option for any new major intermodal site, in the absence of competing terminals, he said. </p> <p>Mr Tripodi was launching the Sea Freight Council’s <em>Sydney’s Intermodal Solution</em> report, prepared by consultancy firm Strategic design + Development.</p> <p>&#8220With reference to examples from around Australia and overseas, the report outlines alternative business models and structures for establishing viable intermodal terminals of this type in Sydney,&#8221 he said.</p> <p>&#8220It supports the State Government’s position that `generally, the role of government in relation to terminals should not be to operate them but, where it is financially and economically justifiable, to facilitate the provision of their infrastructure.'</p> <p>&#8220It is vital the State Government facilitates the private operators of intermodal terminals to increase the efficiency of the landside supply chain and reduce the congestion on Sydney’s roads.&#8221</p> <p>The use of shared infrastructure was &#8220tough&#8221, when access to the infrastructure was limited, Mr Tripodi said, especially given the shifting dynamics of trade.</p> <p>&#8220Who gets to use the rationed infrastructure &#8211 when and on what terms &#8211 are not simply questions of fairness, but often questions of survival for a company or a chain of companies.&#8221</p> <p>Mr Tripodi said competition between companies had now become competition between chains of companies working cooperatively, to compete with other chains of companies.</p> <p>&#8220The competition is between supply chains rather than suppliers,&#8221 he said. </p> <p>&#8220This is an inevitable consequence of the break-down of the practice of a traditional company that used to produce goods or services from beginning to end.</p> <p>&#8220This new business paradigm creates the need to coordinate between companies in a supply chain, rather than competition between companies.&#8221</p> <br />