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Latest data shows freight transport industry growth

According to the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics’ (BITRE) latest research, the Australian Infrastructure Statistics Yearbook 2016, productivity and investment in the transport sector are at an all-time high.
In the 2014–15 financial year, 212 billion tonne kilometres (tkm) of bulk and non-bulk domestic freight was transported by road, made up of 133.8 bn tkm of non-bulk freight, and 78.2 bn tkm of bulk freight. This is up from a total of 205.7 bn tkm in the 2013–14 period. A tkm is a unit of measure of freight transport calculated by multiplying total load carried by total distance covered.
In 2014–15, 401.6 bn tkm of bulk and non-bulk freight were moved by rail, a huge jump from 367.7 bn tkm in the previous financial period.
Australia’s ports have been busy, with 7.1 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) exchanged at the country’s five principal container ports: Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Fremantle and Adelaide, up from 6.2 million in the previous financial year. In 2013–14, 105.4 bn tkm of freight were moved by coastal shipping, up on the 104.5 bn tkm moved in the previous period, but far off the high of 116.2 bn tkm in 2009­–10, and the record 127.6 bn tkm moved in 2006–07.
In 2015–16, 45.7 per cent of infrastructure construction was in the transport sector, and $25.2 billion was spent in 2014–15 on roads.
BITRE, part of the Policy and Research Division of the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, prepares economic analysis, research and statistics on infrastructure, transport and regional development issues to inform Australian Government policy development.
You can view the full publication on the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development’s website.

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