Issues in Dry Port Location and Implementation in Metropolitan Areas: The Case of Sydney, Australia

Abstract

The basic idea behind the concept of a dry port is a more efficient seaport access, movement of the seaport’s interface inland with the shift of flows from road to rail. The application of the concept results in a reduction of road transport to/from the seaport together with the associated broad social and environmental benefits. This paper examines the complex factors influencing the timeframes and location of close inland intermodal terminals with dry port characteristics - metropolitan intermodal terminals, as they are usually referred to - and their implementation, with a case study of the Sydney metropolitan region and Port Botany, Australia. The issues surrounding suburban freight terminals are a sub-set of the wider social and environmental problems of the interactions of seaports with their hinterland. Port Botany and its close inland intermodal terminals are very distinctive: there are very few ports in the world with such a well-developed network of close inland intermodal terminals. Nevertheless, the Moorebank terminal was first mooted in 2003 but the latest plans anticipate operations commencing in 2018. The paper illustrates some problematic aspects of long timeframes for the development of significant freight infrastructure.

Diffusion of Innovation Assessment of Adoption of the Dry Port Concept

“…One of the aims of dry port implementation is to improve seaport inland access to increase competitive advantage, terminal capacity and consequently productivity. Such developments have been observed in China (Beresford et al, 2012), Australia and New Zealand (Roso, 2013;Black et al, 2018). ), India (Ng and Gujar, 2009), the United States (Rodrigue et al, 2010, Asia (Hanaoka and Regmi, 2011;Black et al, 2013), Russia (Korovyakovsky and Panova, 2011), and Europe (Flämig and Hesse, 2011;Henttu and Hilmola, 2011;Monios, 2011, Bask et al, 2014, Khaslavskaya and Roso, 2019.…”

“…These three components, taken together, make-up the innovation of the dry port concept (Roso et al, 2009). The concept has the potential to generate benefits for the ecological environment and the quality of life of residents by shifting freight routes from road to rail (Black et al, 2018;Roso et al, 2009). It mainly offers seaports the possibility to secure a market in the hinterland and increase the throughput without physical port expansion (Black et al, 2018).…”

“…The concept has the potential to generate benefits for the ecological environment and the quality of life of residents by shifting freight routes from road to rail (Black et al, 2018;Roso et al, 2009). It mainly offers seaports the possibility to secure a market in the hinterland and increase the throughput without physical port expansion (Black et al, 2018). In this scenario, seaport cities and the seaports themselves benefit from less road congestion and a reduced need for infrastructure investment.…”

Exploring seaport - dry ports dyadic integration to meet the increase in container vessels size

“…The rising number of container flows from and to seaports caused congestion in terminals and increased container dwelling times, which affected the competitiveness of the seaports as a whole (Roso et al 2009;Black et al 2018). The emergence of dry ports as a connecting node with different players facilitates container traffic in the supply chain and increases the competitiveness of seaports as a result (Notteboom and Winkelmans 2001;Roso 2013).…”

Engaging Employees with Good Sustainability: Key Performance Indicators for Dry Ports

“…Black et al (2018) [20] set out a list of important success factors in the establishment of a dry port: emission reduction, railway connection, and a shift from road to rail. They studied the sustainability issues on double-stacked trains and warehousing related to the Moorebank dry port.…”