THE Maroona to Portland rail line has scored $150 million in Tuesday’s federal budget, funding for upgrades that advocates say has been a long time coming.

    Port of Portland CEO Greg Burgoyne and Glenelg Shire Council Mayor Karen Stephens met up on Wednesday to celebrate the news.

“This will put the Port of Portland on a level playing field with the ports of Geelong and Melbourne,” Mr Burgoyne said.

“It will give primary producers and industry another option in transporting their products, such as grain and mineral sands, to markets, and make exports more globally competitive for regional producers.”

He said it would create a robust rail infrastructure that strengthened supply chains into the future and supported the federal government’s emissions reduction targets.

“It will also mean that the reduced speed limits that have crippled the line in the past few years will be lifted to 80kmh.”

Mr Burgoyne said several key industry stakeholders, the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), state and local government had been advocating for the rail upgrade over many years.

“It is a great result for the region and brings certainty to a range of different industries who rely on an efficient and reliable supply chain to get their products to export markets,” he said.

Recent events both internationally and within Australia highlighted the need for more resilience within the supply chain, he said.

“This upgrade will importantly integrate the Maroona to Portland line with the rest of the ARTC network.”

Mr Burgoyne said the $150m budget commitment would also contribute to economic growth by creating jobs and opening key markets

to competition in the supply chain.

“We look forward to working with the ARTC to get this project started,” he said.

Mayor Stephens said it was a great win for the many who had battled for the upgrade for many years.

“The issue was first raised in the early 2000s and council has been a tireless advocate for it, both locally and through the Rail Freight Alliance of which it has been a prominent member,” she said.

“I thank all of those who have contributed to ensuring this upgrade got the go-ahead.”

Former Glenelg mayor Geoff White was foundation chair in 2000 of the Rail Freight Alliance (RFA) representing 26 member councils across Victoria and into NSW and hopes this is the final chapter in a long-running saga.

“Hallelujua!” he said.

“This saga has seen undelivered funding promises, massive contract costs overruns, and failures to fully deliver earlier project stages on the Murray Basin rail project (the overarching rail strategy).

“A dedicated team of councillors from right across the Victorian regional rail network will hopefully at last, with the completion of this project, see the removal of the huge bias against rail freight rates to the Port of Portland.”

Current RFA chair Glenn Milne said the $150m was a welcome investment in a very fiscal environment.

“We always knew the need to invest in this line was imperative, given the mineral sands 900,000-tonne annual freight task that is to commence within two years.

“If this freight was to go by road, it would have been devastating for the communities along the route. Safety, amenity and road longevity matter to all Victorians, as well as to the Victorian economy in getting reliable freight paths to export.” 

SouthWest Victoria Alliance (SWVA) chair Cr Ben Blain said the $150 million was part of a $540 million investment to improve the ARTC’s interstate freight rail network.

“The 173km-long track connects the western half of Victoria to the national rail freight system and to the deep-sea Port of Portland, which is vital for the SWVA region’s export trade,” he said.

“We hope the $150 million upgrade will be sufficient to fully re-sleeper the whole line so that the current 20kmh speed limit can be restored to 80kmh and cut the six-hour rail journey to and from the Port of Portland in half.

“We also hope the upgrade will significantly cut the number of freight trucks using the region’s roads, taking some pressure off roads that are already substandard.”

    MP for Western Victoria Jacinta Ermacora said the funding for the Maroona line was a game changer for Portland and the southwest.

“It connects Portland to the national rail freight grid. It connects Portland to international markets. It will create thousands of jobs and at the same time get thousands of trucks off our roads,” she said.

“Congratulations to everyone involved over the decades.”

MP for South West Coast Roma Britnell, while welcoming the news, is taking a wait-and-see approach.

“The announcement follows years of extensive lobbying by myself, the community and Glenelg Shire Council,” she said.

“Since 2008 we have seen a deterioration of the line to the extent that it is hardly fit for purpose and trains frequently derail. This funding is long overdue and positions our region well,” she said.

“What we need to see now is that the state takes this opportunity given to them by the federal government and deliver a fit-for-purpose Maroona to Portland rail line.

Ms Britnell said the line upgrades, if realised, would also be a win for local roads.

“The upgrades could take up to 70,000 truck trips off our roads each year.

“My concern is that with the Victorian Labor government’s long track record of mismanaging contracts, we won’t see the full potential of this project achieved.”