The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) is supporting the greater use of rail freight with the launch of its Rail Freight Action Plan.
ARA Chief Executive Officer Caroline Wilkie said the plan outlined a significant program of work to improve the regulatory environment, promote investment in rail and increase rail freight’s modal share.
“Rail will meet almost three quarters of the growth in demand for Australia’s freight task to 2030 and is a crucial part of ensuring sustainable and efficient supply chains,” Wilkie said.
“The Rail Freight Action Plan confirms a strong agenda to support greater use of rail to meet our current and future freight needs,” she said
Wilkie said the ARA was working closely with rail freight industry stakeholders to deliver the actions outlined in the plan over the next 12 months.
“The ARA is embarking on a range of actions to shape policies and complete research on key issues affecting the rail freight sector,” she revealed.
“We have already established three new working groups with industry leaders to explore opportunities for modal shift, competitive neutrality and interoperability,” she said.
She explained that these groups will play a crucial role in ensuring the action plan delivers solutions that make a real difference for industry while meeting community needs.
The new working groups are comprised of the modal shift working group, the competitive neutrality working group, and the interoperability working group.
These groups will deal with defining the key measures of greater use of rail; identifying areas where competitive inequality exists between different freight modes, and the steps needed to address them; and identifying current challenges impacting rail freight efficiency and productivity and making the case for regulatory reform to benefit the whole sector, respectively.
Further research on sustainability was also planned, in line with the actions confirmed in the ARA’s sustainability strategy.
“These projects will deliver significant insights into the challenges and opportunities facing the sector,” Wilkie said.
“We look forward to working alongside industry to build on this work and support a strong future for rail freight,” she concluded.
The plan builds on the ARA’s Rail Freight Executive Committee strategy released last year.
Source: Australasian Railway Association