Market briefings have shown there is strong private sector appetite for participation in the Australian government’s Moorebank intermodal terminal (IMT) project.
Some 37 major companies across the freight, logistics, construction and project finance sectors have so far taken part in the market briefings co-ordinated by the government’s lead adviser, KPMG, with the program scheduled to be completed this month.
The briefings, which have involved companies from overseas including strong interest from the Asia-Pacific region, have followed the government’s announcement in April that it would proceed with the Moorebank IMT as a private sector project through a competitive tender process.
“The market briefings have shown there is strong appetite from both domestic and offshore companies that see the Moorebank IMT as a major opportunity,” a spokesperson for the Moorebank Project Office said. “It is clear the market has identified the IMT, to open in 2017, as one of the largest and most significant infrastructure projects to proceed in Sydney in the next five years.
“The feedback received was that the private sector welcomes the project as an absolute necessity for Sydney and supports the government’s decision to enable an open-access IMT designed, built and operated by the private sector through a competitive tender process.
“Industry also provided feedback that the project is well-timed in terms of the major project pipeline for Sydney over the next few years.
“The IMT will be a game changer for Sydney, moving a significant quantity of freight from road to rail and helping alleviate urban congestion while delivering major productivity gains that will have national benefits.”
A detailed business case prepared for the government found that the IMT would generate $10 billion in economic benefits, boosting productivity, slashing business costs and taking 1.2 million truck trips off Sydney’s roads each year.
Funding to enable the project to proceed was committed in the federal budget in May.
The government proposes to let tenders for the design, construction and operation of the IMT and will begin procurement in mid-2013, following establishment of a government business enterprise in January 2013 to manage the process.
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