Australian-owned SCT Group has announced a new initiative to develop its import capabilities at the Wimmera Agricultural Logistics Hub in Dooen, building on previous work at the Wodonga Intermodal Hub.

In Wodonga, the group built up the hub's capacity to handle palletised freight, container loads and refrigerated containers, and looks to replicate similar results at the Horsham site.

In 2013, SCT Group started running trains out of the Wimmera, with a focus on exporting grain.

SCT Group general manager Matt Eryurek said moving different types of freight onto the network would build economic resiliency in the region.

READ MORE:

"One thing that rail and hubs do is that they attract rail and investment to the region, because the hub on its own is only a property. But with a train it gives the property connectivity to the state and also to the port," he said.

"The potential investor could be a manufacturer, a cold storage facility, or an ag business, who knows that building in the hub gives them the connection to the port and to the interstate network."

Mr Eryurek said the group hoped to work with road transport companies in the Wimmera to create a "natural integration" between both types of transport.

"When the customer is actually at your doorstep, you are not competing anymore with high productivity vehicles, you are actually feeding each other," he said.

The product leaves the farm into the manufacturing plant on an A-double or a truck set, but once it is produced, manufactured or processed it then goes onto a rail set.

"That allows the trucking community to focus on the first and last mile, and for the train set to focus on the hubbing sets in Adelaide, Melbourne, but also in Brisbane and Perth. So it creates a natural integration rather than competition."

The Wimmera Agriculture and Logistics Hub, formerly known as the Wimmera Intermodal Freight Terminal, has been the focus of council work to develop the site's industrial capability.

At a council meeting on June 15, the decision to sell 83.3ha of the land was resolved.

In 2022, SCT expects a bumper grain season and working with shipping lines to ensure the container equipment is available at Wimmera Agricultural Logistics Hub for the region.

The group will be operating up to five train services to and from the port of Melbourne to cater to the expected high volumes.

MORE NEWS:

Mr Eryurek said SCT had also developed a working group in partnership with the Wimmera Development Association, Regional Development, and Freight Victoria to capitalise on the economic gains expected for the region.

"The key message is, we see the number of trucks which drive through Horsham, and we are hoping different sectors use this site as a hub as a pick up and drop off point without discounting the road industry where they can put their road trucks in and out of the hub and get better turn around times," he said.

"If we look at the hub and the concentration, it brings jobs. If we don't focus on the hub then it becomes a transit lane where people will drive through Horsham, but they won't stop in Horsham.

"With us we actually stop our trains in Horsham. Our train drivers are accommodated at the Horsham International. They eat at Cheeky Fox.

"What we are trying to say is let's not make Horsham a transit yard, but make it a concentrate of energy where people are staying in Horsham, eating in Horsham, travelling to Horsham."

"We are creating a network for Horsham, rather than just focusing on being an intermodal. We are hoping that the network we bring to Horsham's gateway will potentially bring the next Woolworths, bring the next packaging company to Horsham."

SCT Group has also been working with Federation University to explore possible working groups, traineeships and employment opportunities into the future.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: