A DEAL between a Rupanyup grain company and Wimmera Container Line will see 3000 fewer freight movements on the Western Highway each year.
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Wimmera Grain Company has joined Wimmera Container Line and SCT Logistics to export more grain from the Wimmera by rail.
Wimmera Intermodal Freight Terminal manager Allister Boyce said the companies had successfully negotiated an agreement.
He said the deal would see the transition of grain from road to rail through the terminal at Dooen.
He said Wimmera Grain Company’s exports alone would remove about 3000 round-trip road movements each year between Horsham and Melbourne.
Wimmera Grain Company manager Chris O’Bryan said the deal would increase the company’s freight capacity.
“If road and rail work together, it provides a more efficient way to get containers from the Wimmera to the ports,” he said.
“We need to have good road and rail networks and for them to work together – so when road suffers, rail can pick up the slack and vice-versa.”
He said using rail was also a more cost-effective way to move freight.
Transport Minister Terry Mulder said the government remained very positive and supportive of regional Victoria and rail.
“We’ve invested significant capital in regional areas throughout Victoria including the Wimmera Intermodal Freight Terminal which services the requirements of Horsham and the Wimmera,” he said.
“We are pleased to see volumes building through the terminal and meeting the objectives of supporting agricultural exports in the regional area and reducing truck congestion on our roads.’’