Port Botany is the dominant container port in NSW. The DEC of Port Botany is projected to grow by 63 per cent, from $5 billion in 2011 to $8 billion in 2031. The NSW Government is projecting that container volumes passing through the port will grow from just over two million 20 foot equivalent units (TEU) at present to 7.8 million TEU in 2030, and 13.6 million TEU in 2040.281
The main infrastructure challenge at Port Botany is providing appropriate landside infrastructure for distributing containers across Sydney. This requires both road and rail facilities. The vast majority of containers to and from Port Botany are moved by road, producing around 3,900 truck movements daily, principally down the M5 corridor. Only 14 per cent of containers are moved by rail. This is a result of factors including:
■ the lower cost of road transport over short distances;
■ unreliable rail scheduling at Port Botany: according to the Sydney Ports Corporation,282 fewer than half of rail journeys run on time; and
■ inefficiency in port rail yards, which often means containers are handled several times.
The NSW Government has stated its intention to double the proportion of containers moved by rail.283 The Australian Government has committed to facilitate the delivery of an intermodal terminal at Moorebank. The facility will allow for freight to be transferred to Moorebank by rail from Port Botany, reducing the demand for road transport from the port and providing a hub for the wider road and rail freight networks.284
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281. New South Wales Government (2013), p. 31
282. SPC (2010)
283. New South Wales Government (2011b)
284. Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development (2015)