Rail Freight Alliance hosted its annual conference in Melbourne on Friday.

The 2015 Rail Freight Conference, Intermodal Hubs Keys to Success, hosted a number of organisations with freight transport initiatives including Horsham Rural City Council.

Intermodal terminals was the theme of the conference this year.

Horsham Rural City Council technical services director John Martin spoke on behalf on council and the Dooen Freight Hub.

He made a 30-minute presentation which included 10 minutes of questions and answers.

Mr Martin spoke about the development of the freight terminal at Dooen and how it has improved the region’s freight service.

“It’s interesting to look back at the history of this case developed in the mid-2000s,” he said.

“It identified there was an expectation of the number of containers taken through the old freight terminal in the middle of town to steadily increase and it had been doing that.”

Mr Martin also spoke about the success of moving the terminal from the centre of Horsham in 2012.

“Until the terminal was out at Dooen the operation was in the middle of Horsham – there was no room to expand,” he said.

“Having all the trucks in the middle of town in a residential area was far from ideal.

“Everyone is also pleased business is expanding at Dooen.”

Mr Martin said there were plans to improve the site at Dooen further.

“One of the things we have planned is there could be an industrial precinct around the freight terminal,” he said.

“There is a tremendous opportunity for businesses to consider basing themselves out at the freight terminal.

“The next logical step is an industrial precinct out here.”

Mr Martin said the conference was a good opportunity to share the region’s successes and learn more about the freight industry from other perspectives.

“It’s a good way of highlighting the benefits of freight on rail to showcase for the industry,” he said.