The state opposition has promised to boost an incentive payment, aimed at shifting freight from road to rail, ahead of the upcoming election later this year.
Opposition ports and freight spokeswoman Roma Britnell said the coalition was committing to a $20 million, four-year investment in the Mode Shift Incentive Scheme, to encourage industry to move more containerised freight from road to raill.
Ms Britnell said the current government hadn't produced a reliable freight network that was fit for purpose.
"The government's track record on rail freight is nothing short of abysmal," Ms Britnell said.
"(Premier) Daniel Andrews has botched the Murray Basin Rail Project; the Port Rail Shuttle is still sitting idle and now he has cut $3 million of funding to the Mode Shift Incentive Scheme.
"If Labor was serious about freight rail, it would commit long term to the Mode Shift Incentive Scheme and increase its funding, not cut it."
The MSIS was established by the former coalition government in 2104, providing $5 million a year to four operators to encourage more containerised freight onto rail.
Since 2018 Ms Britnell said the government had cut $3 million of funding to the MSIS.
Ms Britnell said the incentive had dropped from $117 per container in 2013-14 to just $94 per container this year.
Ms Britnell said the opposition would also work with the Australian Road Research Board to produce a 'Gold Standard Freight Network' that included an analysis of the busiest and most important Victorian freight routes, while also looking at issues preventing the running of more efficient trucks.
