$14.5m rail plan

Tuesday, 15 August, 2006 - 22:00
THE state government will spend $14.5 million on rail transport near Greenbushes to transfer timber haulage from roads onto trains. The Greenbushes Intermodal Facility and other associated rail infrastructure would cater for plantation timber and woodchips, resulting in a reduction in road freight estimated by the government to be as much as seven million tonnes of freight over 10 years. The equivalent of 144 big trucks a day would ultimately be removed from the South West highway system. The investment is reportedly a partnership between the government, WA Plantation Resources, Australian Railroad Group and WestNet Rail. Under the initiative, woodchips processed at Manjimup will be trucked to the new train loading facility at North Greenbushes and railed to Bunbury Port for export.