GrainCorp, which has storage and loading facilities at Portland, has backed upgrading of the rail line to the port from Maroona, near Ararat.
The federal government set aside $2.2 million to fund a business case into evaluating the upgrade of the line, which runs for 172 kilometres from near Ararat to Portland.
Key stakeholders have been advocating upgrading the line from 19 tonne axle loads (TAL) to 23 TAL to strengthen its competitiveness.
A GrainCorp spokeswoman said rail freight remained the most cost-effective way to get grain to port in an export year, but insufficient maintenance of the line was forcing longer cycle times and pushing more tonnes onto the roads.
"Ultimately, the line requires a higher TAL, in order to run at full speed," the spokeswoman said.
"Enabling heavier wagons will increase the capacity of the trains and will reduce the need for more locomotives and fuel, while providing faster cycle times with more reliability."
This would contribute to improved port capacity which again, in an export year, was crucial for Australian growers and operators.
Rail Freight Alliance chief executive Reid Mather said "personally I think it's a waste of $2 million - for goodness sake, just fix the thing.
"But the money is already gone, the 'go' button has been pushed, so what it means ARTC will do that work and it will be up to a future government to decide to do that work, or not."
Mr Mather said the upgrade made sense, given potential mining ventures in the Horsham area.
"It makes an enormous amount of sense if you make these investments early and capture them as there is more grain traffic than ever before, as a consequence of the uncompleted Murray Basin Rail Project.
"I just want the state government to keep its original promise and do the full five stages of the MBRP."
Manangatang grower Brian Barry senior logically it would feed into the system, cutting out the bottleneck to port.
"It is absolutely critical, for the top half of Victoria, and into NSW, we have quality transport infrastructure," Mr Barry said.
"We have had a hike in road freight, to get our grain away, and its eye-watering stuff; the difficult thing to accept is that the state government had another review and booted the Murray Basin Rail Project into a corner.
"It is just so offensive they can do that."
"They said how the plan wasn't value for money, that is brutal and so uncaring, in saying that they just rendered us second, third, and fourth rate citizens.
'Yet they still want us to grow this grain, they keep telling us we are an essential service".
He said the government was taking growers for granted, as they knew farmers would keep producing.
"We are not subsidised, we just get on with the business."
He said the cost of inputs was frightening and farmers were entitled "to get this incredible product we grow onto a ship efficiently and a cost we can afford to pay.
"Portland is the deep port, I can't saw which tonne of wheat would go where, but it has to be done efficiently and well."
"Its absolutely ludicrous to dump our export grain onto rubber, and thats exactly what has happened, and is happening - its weakening the central recieval points, the grain is not coming in, because we are forced to put it onto trucks."
Chris Plant, Manangatang, said if an upgrade provided cost efficiencies, then growers may be prepared to send their product to Portland.
"But without seeing any figures regarding freight price differentials or price of grain differentials then it is difficult to say," Ms Plant said.
Victorian Farmers Federation Grains Group president Ash Fraser said investment in modern rolling stock would follow rail network upgrades.
"To have investment in rolling stock in the rail network, we have to get the lines right" Mr Fraser said.
He said he'd been told Victoria's rail freight network was a "basket case", which limited investment in rolling stock, particularly due to the lack of standardised rail.
"It gives another option, options and competition is what we are always craving for in the grains sector.
"If you have choice, you will create value to the farmer."
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
