Burnie to Hobart Freight Corridor Strategy

The development of a Burnie to Hobart Freight Corridor Strategy was identified as a priority action in the Tasmanian Government’s Tasmanian Integrated Freight Strategy and is a priority initiative listed in Infrastructure Australia’s Infrastructure Priority List.

The Burnie to Hobart Freight Corridor (the Corridor) operates as a parallel road and rail corridor, extending from Burnie to Hobart, via Launceston, and includes key feeder routes to Smithton, Bell Bay, Fingal and Boyer. The Corridor provides a direct connection to the State’s major domestic container ports at Burnie and Devonport, and to the southern region’s major intermodal hub at Brighton.

By tonnage, traffic volumes and strategic land use connections, the road and rail networks between Burnie and Hobart form Tasmania’s most significant freight corridor, underpinning Tasmania’s land freight network. Around 70 per cent of freight trips across Tasmania use the Corridor for at least part of their journey, with a significant number of major freight generators located adjacent to, or in close proximity to the Corridor and its key feeder routes.

The Tasmanian Government has released the Burnie to Hobart Freight Corridor Strategy (the Strategy) outlining expectations in relation to planning and investment by its road and rail providers, including the following actions:

• Development of transparent service standards for road and rail;
• Development of ten year road and rail investment plans addressing major capital upgrades, ongoing maintenance and service levels;
• Application of a consistent assessment methodology and freight demand assumptions to all investment initiatives across the Corridor;
• Development of project business cases to support future road and rail investment priorities, with priority given to the Bridgewater Bridge.

The development of the Strategy was informed by consultation with transport infrastructure providers and key users of the Corridor. A consultancy report considered the current and future freight demand along the Corridor under low, medium and high growth scenarios, and provided general advice on the infrastructure responses required to meet future demand.