Cr Maria Willis, Member for Orange Phil Donato, NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison, Cr Michele* Herbert, Cr Chris Roylance, Cr Brian Mattiske and TfNSW’s Regional Director West Alistair Lunn
Farmers in the Central West of NSW will benefit from faster and safer grain transport with the opening of a new $6.2 million rail siding upgrade at Red Bend.
Located just south of Forbes, the siding upgrade allows larger trains to exit the main line to load and unload tonnes of vital grains such as wheat, barley and canola.
The recently completed project has delivered an extra 400 metres to the siding, allowing a 48-wagon train to be loaded in two 24-wagon sections without encroaching on the main line.
Previously, the shorter siding length could only accommodate a 20-wagon train.
It’s estimated the Red Bend upgrade will divert 26,000 tonnes of grain annually from trucks to trains, which would remove an estimated 660 truck movements from Central West roads, contributing to safer journeys for everyone.
The Red Bend rail improvement project was supported by a $5.14 million investment from GrainCorp, $970,000 from the NSW Government’s Fixing Country Rail Program and an in-kind contribution of $90,000 from the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC).
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison said “This is a clear example of how investing in the NSW rail network has numerous practical advantages. In simple terms, a more efficient and sustainable freight transport helps everyone in the supply chain to reduce costs. This will ultimately benefit the consumer and their hip pockets.
Red Bend is the latest rail siding project, located in southern NSW, that has received funding from the state government.
This included the $2.15 million rail siding at Temora West, the $14.4 million Riverina Intermodal Freight and Logistics Hub siding, and the $11.7 million Coolamon siding extension – all of which benefits the $23.1 billion primary industries economy.”
Quotes attributable to Nigel Lotz, General Manager of Operations at GrainCorp:
“The region is a significant grain growing area in NSW and the GrainCorp site receives on average 120,000 tonnes per harvest season.
“It’s important for local growers to have access to critical export markets as well as domestic customers in bigger years, and to be able to take advantage of the pricing benefits of a quick train cycle to the ports.
“This can only be achieved through efficient rail services, which is why this rail loading capability is so important to the grain supply chain.
“Ultimately, when the industry can cut down transport costs this benefits consumers as well as growers.
“The project has also increased our loading capacity and improved the cycle times of trains from up to 72 hours down to 36 hours, improving the safety outcomes and overall site experience for our teams and growers alike.”
Simon Ormsby from ARTC said “ARTC is pleased to support farmers to get their produce to local and international markets more efficiently.
“It’s good business for farmers and great for the community because it means more freight on rail and less trucks on our roads.”