[ABC] Creating regional hubs will lower food costs

grace · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:21 am

The company which owns and operates the railway between Darwin and Adelaide is proposing to develop regional food hubs which would lower grocery costs in remote Northern Territory communities.

Freightlink's general manager of Business Operations, Tony Aldridge, addressed key players in the transport and infrastructure sector at Australia's Northern Gateway Conference in Darwin today.

The Australian Trucking Industry told delegates the cost of goods will continue to rise in the territory as fuel prices soar.

Mr Aldridge says rail has the potential to lower costs, particularly in the territory where long distances are a factor.

"We still think there's a lot of opportunity for us to service communities and locations like Mataranka," he said.

"At the moment we're largely dealing with our key transport centres are Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Darwin and Katherine, and what we're looking for is the opportunity to go one step further and see if we can create regional hubs to be able to deliver freight from there to other communities."