Western Interstate Freight Terminal:

Existing Demand

Delivering the WIFT in Truganina makes it ideally located to the Port of Melbourne, Melbourne, Avalon and Essendon airports and major national and regional arterial roads. The west is the origin and destination for around a quarter of all container transport and Truginina is close to around 50 per cent of existing interstate freight rail customers. Additionally, the WIFT will be located in a region with an abundance of quality and accessible commercial and industrial land to support warehousing and logistics.

The West State Significant Industrial Precinct is the largest of the State Significant Industrial Precincts and is also the most active in terms of consumption. On current zoned land supply, vacant land supply would potentially be exhausted sometime in the early to mid-2030s. However, there are significant supplies of industrial land that have been identified as proposed industrial land that will substantially extend land supply to between the early to late 2040s.[1]

Building the freight precinct in Melbourne’s west is a priority for the Victorian Government as it is supported by the existing demand of industry. Of all port traffic, 87 percent of freight originates or destined to metropolitan Melbourne within 50kms of the Port. And of these, Melbourne’s outer west receives 26 percent. Overall, the outer west of metropolitan Melbourne is a key node for Port-related activity.[2]

 

Figure 1: Metropolitan Melbourne destinations for 20-foot containers delivered to the Port of Melbourne 2009.
Source: 2009 Container Logistics Chain Study.

 

Figure 2: Metropolitan Melbourne origins for 20-foot containers departing from the Port of Melbourne 2009.
Source: 2009 Container Logistics Chain Study.