Final improvements are being made to Victoria’s rail freight infrastructure to streamline the journey of this year’s grain harvest to the Port of Geelong.
Signalling systems are now being upgraded in the North Geelong and North Shore area, making up the final stage of the Geelong C Box Project.
Rail signals into and out of the Port of Geelong are currently changed manually, which ultimately slows down grain exports and limits the type of trains that can access the terminal.
“The Geelong C Box Project will remove the need for manual signalling, doubling the capacity of the grain loop and eliminating wait times,” said Minister for Ports and Freight, Melissa Horne.
The upgrades are intended to enable more grain freight trains to travel from the state’s grain growing regions to the Port of Geelong for exportation.
“With Victorian grain growers set to experience a bumper harvest this year, it is important we can move grain efficiently from the farm gate to port via Geelong’s rail freight network,” said minister for ports and freight Melissa Horne.
Automating the C-Box will enable better control of train movements from V/Line’s train control centre, allowing both standard and broad-gauge trains to access the grain site.
Rail engineering and signalling experts are carrying out the work within the rail corridor and at rail crossings.
As such, traffic management will be in place at rail crossings in the area during the works to ensure the safety of all road users.
The works are expected to be completed by the end of next week.