The rail industry met with key politicians in Canberra today, highlighting the urgent need for reform to drive improved productivity, safety and sustainability across the national freight network.

The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) brought together rail freight leaders from across the country to make the case for change at an event at Parliament House today.

ARA Chief Executive Officer Caroline Wilkie said the Federal Government’s economic reform agenda provided a once in a generation opportunity to transform the freight sector and deliver improved productivity across the national supply chain.

“Australia must use rail more if we are to deliver a productive national freight network that can meet growing demand,” Ms Wilkie said.

“Rail is at a critical juncture, with its share of the freight task falling to just two per cent between Sydney and Melbourne and only three per cent between Sydney and Brisbane.

“The pace and scale of reform needed to secure the future of freight cannot be underestimated and will require national focus and leadership.”

The ARA has made four key recommendations to deliver improved freight outcomes as part of the Government’s productivity reform agenda:

• Deliver rail freight policy and regulatory reform to achieve national consistency, improving interoperability and providing national leadership and coordination to improve freight outcomes
• Invest in the national rail network, providing a clear, long-term investment pipeline targeting upgrades that will improve the performance, reliability and resilience of the national freight network
• Enable mode shift, incentivising greater use of rail to reduce transport emissions
• Achieve competitive neutrality, reforming pricing and other policy levers to provide a level playing field between road and rail freight, allowing customers to choose the right mode for the right freight task

Ms Wilkie said the recent launch of the National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy was a positive step towards delivering improved freight outcomes.

However, urgent action was needed to address the challenges facing the rail freight sector and to ensure greater use of rail to meet future demand.

The rail freight sector generates $6.3 billion for the economy annually and creates 22,400 jobs across the country.

Rail freight also generates 16 times less carbon pollution than road and will play a crucial role in reducing transport sector emissions.

The ARA’s submission to the Federal Government’s transport sector productivity roundtable is available here.

ENDS