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A $23 million multi-modal transport hub in northern Adelaide is set to further ignite the freight industry across Australia.
Northline’s new Regency Park site, alongside the Kilburn railhead, will transform transit speed and efficiency by bringing road and rail transport together, said its CEO Craige Whitton.
The vast 10,440sqm depot will have direct cargo access to pacific national, Australia’s largest rail operator, and is close to the north-south corridor which is currently being updated with $2.5 billion in federal and state government funding, he said.
“Northline recognises the need for a multi-modal solution to meet customer’s needs, which has led us to bringing road and rail closer together, as well as ensuring easy access to Australia’s major seaports for import/export.
“With investments totalling $98 million over the last three years, Northline now has one of the most modern networks of transport and logistics depots across mainland Australia”.
Andrew Adam, general manager of Pacific National Intermodal, said the investment recognised the need for greater collaboration between road and rail transport providers.
“Northline’s facility represents the first intermodal cargo link operation in South Australia, he said.
“The benefits of the direct movement of rail containers between the rail terminal and Northline’s facility is already being shown with a reduction of trucks on the road and an overall improvement in supply chain efficiency.”
Northline is also seeing increasing demand for warehousing space within its facilities, and the new Adelaide facility batons 3,500sqm of warehousing space with modern high bay racking, plus a 440sqm wash bay and container servicing area.
The facility is set on a 30,000sqm hard stand.
Matthew Gibb, managing director of Gibb Group, which facilitated the development in partnership with Northline, said his focus was on forming long-term relationships with clients.
“This is at the core of what we do,” he said. “So we are naturally very excited and proud to be delivering our third facility for Northline, and our first in Adelaide.”
Marcus Van Gulick, state manager for construction company, Lanskey, which built the depot, said teamwork was at the heart of the project’s success.
“Over 30 years, Lanskey have completed numerous other industrial and high value projects around Australia, but this is definitely the first in SA with its own dedicated railway access,” he said.
“The complexities of safety and design, along with traffic management requirements associated with these interfaces, certainly had their challenges. That said, I think all parties were really happy with the final result.
“We are proud to have worked on what is clearly a landmark project for SA in this sector.”
Local trades and suppliers formed the bulk of the project personnel, he said.
Now in its 35th year, Northline is a privately owned and run business specialising in road and rail freight management services, warehousing and distribution, global freight forwarding and mining, construction, oil and gas logistics.
It now has 13 branches across Australia and offers 110,000sqm of warehousing space across Australia.
Northline initially built its business by providing freight solutions to customers who do business in northern Australia, in markets considered to difficult by many operators.
Northline now transports goods from and into Asia, Europe and the US and this year will carry more than 5 million tonnes of freight across numerous industries. Northline was primarily built on road transport, and it remains key part of the business, but today the company also provides integrated and flexible transport and logistics solutions across road, rail, sea and air.
The depot relocation closer to local railheads, seaports and airports has been a key part of Northline’s strategy to meet changing demand, and provide greater speed and efficiency.
These locations have been complemented by Northline investing heavily in technology including real time GPS tracking via automated emails.
Adelaide Advertiser – 27 June 2017
Gibb Group managing director Matthew Gibb, Northline CEO Craige Whitton and SA Premier Jay Weatherill at the new depot’s opening
