Intermodal Terminal Company (ITC), owned by Aware Super, has announced the appointment of a highly-experienced transport executive to be the company’s first Chair.
Mr John Fullerton has been appointed to the role, and brings with him more than four decades of private and government sector experience in the transport and logistics sector. He will work closely with ITC’s management team, headed by CEO Mishkel Maharaj, to grow its network of intermodal terminals.
Mr Fullerton’s most recent executive role was at ARTC where he spent nine years as Managing Director and CEO.
Mr Fullerton also has significant experience as a non-executive director on numerous government and private sector boards in the infrastructure and transport sectors including in the role as Chair.
Mr Fullerton said he was excited about working with Aware Super and the ITC team to enable supply-chain and community benefits associated with independent ownership and operation of intermodal terminals.
“Aware Super and ITC have already started to demonstrate the power of private investment in supercharging the development and delivery of major infrastructure projects,” Mr Fullerton said.
“ITC’s first asset, the Somerton Intermodal Terminal (SIT) is already under construction and will be operational in just two years, well ahead of other potential alternatives in Melbourne.
“In a challenging economic environment, there is a huge opportunity to build awareness amongst our government and industry stakeholders about what ITC can do and to fast track the capability to move more freight by rail through the development of a national network of open-access intermodal freight terminals.”
Aware Super Head of Infrastructure, Mark Hector, said that Mr Fullerton is one of Australia’s most experienced rail and infrastructure executives and that Aware Super is delighted he has agreed to be ITC’s inaugural Chair.
“Mr Fulerton’s decades of industry and governance experience will be invaluable to the ITC team as it looks to build a national portfolio of independently owned and operated terminals.”
ITC CEO, Mr Maharaj, said that John is highly regarded, well credentialed and an asset to the ITC team.
“ITC has ambitious growth plans and I look forward to working with John to implement our strategy,” Mr Maharaj said.
“At a time when all governments are looking for ways to reduce spending, ITC and its first project, the Somerton Intermodal Terminal, is a great example of how the private sector can step in to build an open-access, independently owned and operated facility that will meet the needs of industry whilst reducing the need for taxpayer-funded solutions.”
ITC is focused on acquiring, developing and actively operating a national portfolio of terminals that have world-class levels of safety and efficiency and are open-access so the whole supply-chain can benefit from Australia’s rail freight network.
The company’s first terminal is the $400 million development of the Somerton Intermodal Terminal (SIT) in Melbourne which is already under construction and will be operational in 2025.
SIT is a multi-purpose terminal and will be one of the largest intermodal terminals ever built in Australia. It will have one million TEUs of capacity in Phase One and with Phase Two up to two million TEUs.
SIT has the potential to be the major Melbourne terminal for Inland Rail, and Phase Two capacity aims to be sufficient to serve this role for many years.
Already confirmed as the northern part of the Victorian and Federal Government’s Port Rail Shuttle Network, with ITC stating that the SIT could save taxpayers up to $4.7 billion if also used as Inland Rail’s major Melbourne terminal.
