Transport Infrastructure

Perth Airport is the international and regional gateway to Western Australia (WA). Strategically located as one of Australia's closest airports to South East Asia, Europe and Africa, Perth Airport is Australia's fourth largest airport in terms of passenger traffic.

Air freight is a very significant component of the air service business and makes an important contribution to the Western Australian economy.

Air freight is carried by all airlines departing Perth Airport to include international, domestic and regional. To further support the air freight capacity of the scheduled airline services, dedicated freight services are also scheduled.

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Major rail freight lines enter the Perth Metropolitan Region from the East and South. The East-West line is primarily used for interstate traffic: wheat, minerals from the Goldfields and coal. The North-South line carries mainly ores, minerals and coal from the South-West.

Rail freight transport focuses on three types of terminals: ports, major industrial areas and locations where cargo is transferred from one transport mode to another (such as from truck to rail or vice versa).

Most rail port traffic goes to the outer harbour of the Port of Fremantle at Kwinana.  Small volumes of materials and containers are also railed from the north quay of the Port of Fremantle inner harbour to Kwinana annually.

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Road freight is carried to and from the State mainly along the major arterial roads to the North, South and East of Perth. Heavy vehicles comprise about one quarter of total traffic on these routes.

The heavy vehicle system serves virtually all of WA. The materials carried include manufactured or bulk goods originating outside the region such as foodstuffs, paints and other chemicals, and construction materials such as bricks, sand, insulation and roofing.

Livestock, grain, and minerals are also carried to ports for export, while some higher value perishable items like fish and vegetables are carried to the airport for international air freight. Heavy vehicles also move materials and goods, such as fuel, fertiliser and foodstuffs, from the region to other parts of the state and nation.

Main Roads WA (MRWA) is WA's State road authority, managing a network of some 17,800 kilometres of National Highways and State Roads with a value of more than $16.4 billion. Main Roads works in conjunction with Local Government and its local road network in order to create an integrated and efficient transport network that supports the needs of all road users.

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WA is the nation's largest export State, and a major reason for this is the State's ever-expanding resources industry.

Port Hedland and Dampier are the largest and second largest tonnage ports in Australia, and have held these positions for many years.

Altogether, there are eight major ports along WA's 12,500km coastline, which collectively handle almost half of the nation's exports by volume and almost 30 per cent by value.  Links to each of the Port websites are provided below. 

• Albany Port Authority - South West region (http://www.albanyport.com.au/)
• Bunbury Port Authority - South West region (http://www.byport.com.au/)
• Dampier Port Authority - Pilbara region (http://www.dpa.wa.gov.au/)
• Esperance Port Authority - Great Southern region (http://www.esperanceport.com.au/)
• Fremantle Ports - Metropolitan region (http://www.fremantleports.com.au/)
• Geraldton Port Authority - Midwest region (http://www.gpa.wa.gov.au/)
• Port of Broome - Kimberley region (http://www.broomeport.com/)
• Port Hedland Port Authority - Pilbara region (http://www.phpa.wa.gov.au/)
• Port Walcott - Pilbara region: refer to Pilbara Development Commission (http://www.pdc.wa.gov.au/)
• Wyndham Port - Kimberley region: refer to Kimberley Development Commission (http://www.kdc.wa.gov.au/)

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