The benefits of rail freight include being a cost effective means to transport goods over large distances, for example from East to West or West to East. These locations mainly include Melbourne to Perth, Sydney to Perth or Perth to Melbourne or Perth to Sydney. Usually, rail freight does have a longer transit time than road, so it’s important to take this into consideration when using a rail provider or transport company that utilises the rail line.
Rail freight is usually less likely to be impacted by fuel surcharges. Also, as multiple rail containers can be put on the back of a train, there’s higher capacity for goods to move to the end destination at a lower cost.
Multiple items are suited to rail transport, these include automotive parts, paper, packaging, solar panels, food and dry goods and mining equipment.