The multi-user rail siding, located on the Griffith end of Leeton Shire, is on the Junee to Griffith rail line. Photo: Leeton Shire Council.
The NSW Government will provide a $4 million grant to help upgrade rail loading and handling infrastructure at a grain storage and logistics site just outside Griffith, a project expected to ease heavy vehicle congestion through the town’s CBD during peak harvest periods.
The funding has been awarded to AgConnex, formerly known as Grainlink, which operates a site at Wumbulgal on the edge of Griffith near the rail line towards Yenda.
“When farming businesses do well, the whole community benefits – from local shops to transport operators and service providers,” Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said.
“Supporting this and the other 13 projects announced today helps create local jobs, strengthen supply chains and set our regional industries up for sustained economic growth.”
The Wumbulgal upgrade will expand rail loading capacity and improve storage and processing facilities, allowing more grain and emerging plant protein products to move directly from road to rail without travelling through Griffith’s centre.
Wumbulgal forms part of the broader Western Riverina Connect (WR Connect) intermodal freight precinct concept, a proposed hub designed to bring road, rail and bulk handling operations together on the outskirts of Griffith. The aim is to move freight activity away from the town centre by consolidating it at a dedicated industrial rail site, where goods can be transferred to rail for transport to domestic processors and export ports.
The precinct has been in development for several years, but progress has been slow. A separate $13 million funding commitment made in 2025 for rail works was followed by delays of around two years linked to staging, planning and coordination between project partners.
When the initial project was announced, former Grainlink managing director Dean Salvestro said the works would improve processes at the Wumbulgal site.
“Currently, it can take up to eight hours during mainline loading of bulk and container trains several days per week,” Mr Salvestro said.
“The new siding will improve capacity and allow loading activities to proceed without impacting other services on the Junee to Griffith line.”
AgConnex emerged in 2023 following the voluntary administration of Grainlink, which previously operated grain storage and logistics assets across parts of the western Riverina. Financial and operational pressures led to the restructure, with the business relaunched under a new name and operating model while retaining key regional infrastructure.
The funding grant sits within the NSW Government’s Agriculture Industries Innovation and Growth Program, which is delivering $105.5 million across 14 projects statewide. It combines $28 million in government funding with $77.5 million in private investment to support productivity, technology adoption and export growth in agriculture.
Elsewhere in the the Riverina, Young-based Freeman Vineyards has also secured $2 million to establish the state’s first dealcoholised wine production facility, which is aimed at reducing the need for winemakers to transport produce interstate to have alcohol removed.
