CBH chief operations officer Mick Daw, WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis and CBH chief executive officer Ben Macnamara at Broomehill. Photo: CBH Group

AN EXTENSIVE upgrade and expansion at CBH Group’s Broomehill  site has been completed in time to help shift the 2024-25 harvest.

The move has helped the Western Australian bulk handler move to its Horizon 2 target of exporting 2.5 million tonnes (Mt) of grain per month when needed, up from the Horizon 1 figure of 2Mt, in its Path to 2033 strategy.

The Broomehill project includes a new 2.1km siding adjacent to the main line to enable rapid loading of longer trains, and provide a passing loop in the Albany Zone, allowing for a third train to operate.

The trains will be loaded via a 4400t equivalent fixed rail loading facility which can fill a 60-wagon train with around 3600t of grain within four hours, and without disrupting the main line.

Previously, only 30 wagons could be loaded at Broomehill, and over 11 hours, requiring multiple shunts that disrupted the main line.

CBH chief executive officer Ben Macnamara said Broomehill was a gamechanger for the Albany Zone, creating benefits across the whole CBH network.

“This is a critical program aimed at improving the efficiency of the WA freight rail network and supports regional communities by improving safety and infrastructure for the benefit of growers and the whole Western Australian economy,” Mr Macnamara said.

CBH’s upgraded Broomehill site. Photo: CBH Group

He thanked the WA and Federal governments for their investment in the project, as well as the CBH teams, Kotzur, Pacific Industrial, local contractors and suppliers, and the Shire of Broomehill-Tambellup for their on-the-ground involvement.

“The Broomehill rapid rail outloading and siding project will provide greater flexibility within our supply chain, delivering more tonnes to port via rail and reducing trucks on roads.

“The efficiencies we will gain are significant: bigger trains will be able to be loaded in less than half the time, and with a rail passing loop being built, we have the option to run additional train sets in the Albany Zone.

“Transporting more grain on rail will not only increase the international competitiveness of WA grain growers, but also improve safety outcomes for Western Australian regional communities.”

“Rapid rail outloading and siding projects like Broomehill play an essential part of CBH’s network investment,” Mr Macnamara said.

“A high performing network and supply chain are crucial for the long-term viability of WA’s grain growers, the grain industry, and regional Western Australia.

After Brookton and Konnongorring, completed in August 2023 and November 2024 respectively, Broomehill is the third siding built at CBH sites and funded in partnership with the WA and Federal governments under Package 1 of Agricultural Supply Chain Improvements Program.

Broomehill is the first of these projects to have a state-of-the-art fixed loading facility constructed to complement the rail siding.

The Cranbrook siding and loading facility, also in the Albany Zone, is the next of these projects under way and forecast to be completed in the second half of this year.

Source: CBH Group