Brighton Transport Hub

The Brighton Transport Hub is an Intermodal Transport hub located in the Hobart suburb of Brighton. Proposed with the release of the Southern Transport Investment Program in 2007, the $79 million facility was constructed to replace an inner city, outdated and undersized Intermodal terminal - The Hobart Railyards. The Inland port was constructed in conjunction with the nearby Brighton Bypass from 2011 The Bridgewater Industrial Estate was chosen as the preferred site of the Inland port because of its close proximity with the Midland Highway and the southern Railway line of the state. The Transport Hub allows freight to be easily transferred between road and rail transport and enable efficient movement of freight between Tasmania's southern and northern ports and has the added benefit of 250,000 fewer vehicle movements per year passing through the inner city. The Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources first assessed the need for a southern transport hub ten years ago, but it was not until 2007 when the Southern Transport Investment Program was released that an official plan took shape.

History
The Macquarie Point facility is out of date in terms of handling the size of modern freight trains, and lacks any space for a major redevelopment. It is located in the immediate area of a residential and tourist precinct, and is close to the Hobart CBD. It features many short holding tracks that prevent trains being moved as a single continuous vehicle which causes extensive Shunting throughout loading operations. These delays occur in addition to long travel times south of Bridgewater, where the main north/south railway line follows the River Derwent through Hobart's northern suburbs, across 21 level crossings which require slow train speeds to minimize the risk of accidents. The Macquarie Point site features a poor quality surface with uneven levels which creates difficulties for the loading, unloading and manoeuvring of freight across the site. The site configuration does not allow for efficient truck consolidation and deconsolidation and adds to the delays borne by transport companies waiting for containers to be unloaded. Management and security is also difficult because of numerous entry points and the poor rail layout.