
An artist’s impression of the new DP World Rail Terminal at Port Botany. Photo: NSW Ports
DP WORLD and NSW Ports are jointly spending $400 million to extend the rail terminal at Port Botany, which is expected to more than double its annual capacity.
This work, which is part of Stage Two of NSW Ports’ On-Dock Rail Investment Program, will start on site in June and take two years to compete.
It will include 600m rail sidings serviced by rail-mounted gantry cranes, boosting rail-handling capacity at the terminal from 400,000 to 1 million TEU per annum.
NSW Ports will contribute $148M towards the delivery of four rail sidings, while DP World will invest $250M in an additional rail siding, operational equipment, and upgrades to its adjacent logistics park as part of a broader project.
NSW Ports chief executive officer Marika Calfas said sustainable supply chains were critical to the NSW economy to ensure cost-effective and timely delivery of imported goods to households and businesses, and for the state’s exporters to reach global markets.
“This project will move more containers on rail to reduce the growth of trucks on roads, reduce transport emissions, and secure the efficiency of the state’s supply chains,” Ms Calfas said.
“This new rail terminal will improve efficiency and reduce turnaround times for containers at the port.
DP World executive vice president Oceania Nicolaj Noes said the project would deliver significant benefits for customers.
“Our investment in this new port-centric logistics infrastructure will deliver more capacity, superior agility, seamless integration of processes, increased productivity and added reliability,” Mr Noes said.
“We cannot wait for our present and future customers to reap the benefits of this world-class facility, which accelerates the shift of freight from road to rail while reducing carbon emissions and improving Sydney’s air quality at the same time.”
Overall, Port Botany handles about 2.8M TEU annually.
It is the only port in Australia with on-dock rail at all three of its container terminals, and is directly connected, including via dedicated freight rail, to a network of metropolitan intermodal terminals and regional intermodal terminals.
Stage One of NSW Ports’ On-Dock Rail Investment Program was completed in late 2023.
NSW Ports will fund Stage Two through an increase of $4.28 per TEU in wharfage fees on all full imports and full exports from 1 July 2025, which will be removed once the cost of the investment has been recovered.
Source: NSW Ports, DP World
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