Trainline 3 is a collaborative compendium between the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) and BITRE, providing insights, analysis, and an understanding of the Australian freight and passenger railway industry.

Australia's railways are evolving due to factors outside and within the industry. These factors include changes in bulk and non-bulk logistics, commodity flows, technology, urban rail patronage, and regional passenger services. The publication presents an overview and data illustrating these changes in terms of rail tasks performed; characteristics of the railways networks; train operators' rolling stock; and aspects of railway performance, including safety, environment and reliability.

• Trainline 3 

This is the latest in a series of Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) reports that provide information on Australian sea freight movements, vessel activity, the use of coastal trading licences, and the size and composition of the Australian trading fleet. This report contains statistics on maritime freight and shipping activities in Australia from 2004–05 to 2013–14.

Waterline provides the latest data on (a) throughput, (b) container handling productivity (both wharf-side and land-side), and (c) the cost of importing and exporting containers. It covers both the unloading of container ships and the transport of containers from terminals. Highlights from this edition include:

• Throughput at Australian ports increased 3 per cent over the period July-December 2014, relative to the previous year, with a total throughput of 3.7 million TEUs. This compares to non-farm GDP growth over the same period of 2.7 per cent: port throughput continues to increase faster than non-farm GDP. Fremantle experienced the strongest increase of 11.3 per cent; the other ports showed more modest growth, except Adelaide, which recorded a 2.6 per cent decline.
• Wharf-side productivity showed a modest improvement in average labour productivity (up 0.9 per cent); however reduced crane rates (down 3.3 per cent) showed lower capital productivity, and translated to longer median ship turnaround rates at Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Fremantle exhibited the strongest performance (with elapsed labour rate, crane rate and ship rate improvements of 39.4, 32.8 and 10.9 per cent respectively), with the sharpest declines in Brisbane (elapsed labour rate and ship rate down by 12.3 and 14.5 per cent respectively).
• Land-side efficiency continued its decline in all ports except Adelaide: average truck and container turnaround times increased by 5.7 and 4.7 per cent, respectively.
• The Port Interface Cost Index (PICI) increased by $10-$14/TEU over the reporting period, with the larger increases for smaller vessel sizes. Port Interface Cost for medium- and large-size vessels is now approaching parity. While historically, port handling costs have been declining as the general price level across the economy (the GDP deflator) has been increasing, this trend has reversed since 2010, and port interface costs are now rising.

• Waterline No 56
  
  water_056.pdf
  (4.73 MB)

This Information Sheet identifies recent trends (2006 to 2011) in employment by various industries for regional areas, capital cities and non-capital cities. It updates BITRE's previous Information Sheet 32, which focused on employment changes between 2001 and 2006. The information presented in this publication will assist regional communities (including local government and RDAs) to understand how their regions are changing, and help regions map out where their opportunities and challenges might lie.

• Changes in Australia's industry structure: cities and regions, 2006–2011
  
  is_057.pdf
  (1.36 MB)

Waterline reports on trends in (a) throughput, (b) container handling productivity on the waterfront and the land side of ports in Australia, and (c) the cost of importing and exporting containers via five container ports. It covers both the loading and unloading of container ships and the transport of containers from container terminals. In Waterline 55, rail throughput data provided by port authorities is incorporated in calculating the throughput and productivity indicators. This issue covers port terminal activity up to the June quarter 2014.

• Waterline No 55
  
  water_055.pdf
  (2.47 MB)
• Port Performance–non-financial
  
  
  water_055_PortPerformance_non_financial.xls
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• Wharfside Productivity
  
  
  water_055_WharfsideProductivity.xls
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This report presents 20-year forecasts of exports and imports of containerised and non-containerised freight and sea passenger movements through Australia's five largest capital city ports and, in aggregation, all other ports. The forecasts, which update those previously published by BITRE in 2002, 2006 and 2010, are driven by population, real income, exchange rates, import prices and export prices. The most recent economic outlook and population growth forecasts for Australia and its major trading partners have been used to derive the forecasts. The forecasts imply that Australia's sea trade will double over the next 20 years, largely due to the continuing positive economic outlook for Australia and its major trading partners. The long-term outlook for the cruise shipping industry is also positive, largely due to the projected economic growth in source countries of cruise passengers, particularly the USA.

• Containerised and non-containerised trade through Australian ports to 2032–33
  
  report_138.pdf
  (1.97 MB)

The National Ports Strategy was developed by Infrastructure Australia (IA) and the National Transport Commission (NTC) in 2010 at the request of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).

Recommendation 3.10 of the National Ports Strategy is that 'The Bureau of Infrastructure Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) should assess the conditions under which the introduction of dedicated freight land transport infrastructure segments related to relevant container ports would be justified'. BITRE engaged consultants Ernst & Young to undertake the task.

The project involved a literature search with a review of overseas experiences, stakeholder consultation, identification of potential projects, and rapid cost–benefit and financial analyses of two case study projects to assess their potential viability.

The project concerned access to major Australian container ports only–Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Fremantle. The term 'dedicated freight land transport infrastructure segments' has been interpreted broadly. It encompasses freight-only road and rail segments, tunnels, and lanes, but extends to infrastructure investments with a freight priority, for example, a road open to freight vehicles at all times but open to cars only during peak hours to relieve congestion.

Part A of the report contains the literature review, principles under which dedicated or priority freight infrastructure might be warranted, a survey of the landside access challenges facing major Australian container ports, and identification of potential case studies for further investigation.

Part B consists of the two case studies

• a new road link between the Port of Melbourne precinct and the West Gate Freeway, and
• a new rail link between the Port of Brisbane and the Surat Basin, which would carry coal and containers.

It should be noted that these are concept projects specified for the purposes of the case studies. They are not intended to replicate actual proposals previously or currently under consideration.

• A study of the potential for dedicated freight infrastructure in Australia

This Information Sheet identifies the 33 largest spatial concentrations of transport industry employment within Australia. These major transport employment hubs are all located within the five most populous capital cities and include airports, ports, CBDs and a range of industrial areas. This study presents evidence on the number of jobs located in each of these transport employment hubs, the industry mix of those jobs, and the characteristics of workers in each location. In particular, it focuses on investigating the nature of employment in the industrial area hubs, many of which serve important freight and logistics functions.

• Major transport employment hubs
  
  is_058.pdf
  (1.85 MB)

Trainline 2 is a collaborative report between the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) and BITRE. It is a further development of the previous rail freight performance publications series and Trainline 1.

The report provides an overview of freight, urban and non-urban passenger rail. Traffic levels; infrastructure and rolling stock provision; and railway performance are considered.

• Trainline 2 

This information sheet provides updated road freight estimates previously reported in Chapter 2 of BITRE Research Report 121. It gives estimates for interstate, intrastate, capital city and total road freight for each state/territory for the period between 1971–72 and 2012–13.

• Australian road freight estimates: 2014 update
  
  is_062.pdf
  (1.21 MB)