Newcastle up for box terminal

Nicholas Whitlam was keynote speaker at a Shipping Australia lunch and afterwards said he felt a box terminal was likely despite major logistics issues with the railway and geography between Sydney and Newcastle.

Brisbane Water is a large estuary between the two cities and Mr Whitlam said that a rail link to take freight would be either very curved or a new railway would have to be built. Another port development option would be to expand Port Kembla, where both roads and the Maldon-Dombarton railway could be readily expanded.

The issue of port development in NSW has been debated for years, with Sharon Grierson, the MP for Newcastle saying in 2012 that port operator Grup TCB had concluded that Port Kembla did not have suitable infrastructure for a mixed terminal, including containers, whereas Newcastle did as it has access to major highways and a large airport.