Taylor Rail secures Ballarat Freight Hub

Work is now under way on the long-planned $55-million rail freight hub at Ballarat.

The Ballarat Intermodal Freight Hub (BFH) next to the Ballarat Airport in the city’s north-west is forecast to move about 15,000 shipping containers a year to the Port of Melbourne.

It will also handle about 300,000 tonnes of grain annually for George Weston Foods’ soon-to-be-completed flour mill.

Taylor Rail Australia has been selected by V/Line to deliver the rail line and civil works package, including 3km of new track, drainage works and the decommissioning of the Ring Road level crossing.

The freight hub will support Victoria’s freight sector, which is forecasted to double from 440 million tonnes handled in 2020-21 to 900 million tonnes moved annually by 2051.

The site is within the Ballarat West Employment Zone (BWEZ), a joint industrial development between the local and state governments on 438ha of surplus Crown land.

The hub is jointly funded by the Victorian and Australian governments with each government contributing $27.75 million.

Victorian ports and freight minister Melissa Horne, National Infrastructure Minister Catherine King and the Victorian Premier, Jacinta Allan joined Taylor Rail’s Director Mark Wroblewski and Operations Manager Rob De Hollander, to open the project on the 5th June 2026.

Federal infrastructure and transport minister Catherine King said the development would “future-proof BWEZ by providing road, rail and future air connectivity all in one precinct”.

“It will be a drawcard for businesses wanting to locate here and for future investment in our city,” King said.

After the successful completion of its recent rail terminal expansion project in Parkes for Pacific National, Peter Kessler, Taylor Rail CEO, said that it looks forward to work with the RTBU on this exciting new Victorian project and Taylor Rail would self-perform a majority of the rail scope.

Photo: Hon Jacinta Allan, Catherine King and Melissa Horne at the project opening.

Photo: Access Road under construction.