All aboard: New freight train arrives at Tamworth Intermodal Freight Facility

Almost a decade in the making, the train's arrival at the Westdale facility on Friday, March 15, marked a huge milestone in the project's and Tamworth's economic growth.

Qube Logistics general manager of supply chain solutions, Sean Hovey, said in the years to come, the terminal will be a great asset for the community.

"This is a landmark asset that will position Tamworth and New England for years to come," he said.

"A lot of time and effort has gone into the development of this terminal. We are excited to see one of the new Qube Locos arrive on site this morning with a trainload of containers filled with your agricultural projects."

Operations at the facility began in November last year, after a last-minute delay due to a railway installation failure.

The new facility will enable businesses to transfer their products and commodities from truck to train and provide a direct rail route to vessels docked at Port Botany and Port Newcastle.

Many of these products are then shipped to America and Asia.

Mr Hovey said the rail line will also decrease the amount of damage inflicted on local roads by heavy trucks.

"Australia has also got a big target in terms of carbon reduction and trains run at 16 times less carbon pollution than trucks. So, you have all the trucks off the local roads," he said.

The train will run three services per week, and Mr Hovey said there is scope to grow the train and build it up into a daily service if the demand is there.

"We gotta get the runs on the board with the initial volume, get the cycle times right and get the customers satisfied with how the containers come in and out of Port Botany," he said.

"Once we do that and the demand grows, we could do daily services in a couple of years."

Currently, Qube's main export customers are Thomas Foods and some smaller retail customers, but with the construction of the Global Gateway Park, there is potential for imports.

"Tamworth is a thriving community and has a growing industry base," Mr Hovey said.

"And with the growth of the Global Gateway Park and new warehouses coming on site here, we are excited to see how much it lends itself to the volume of items coming out of the port."

The freight line project has been derailed a number of times due to supply chain impacts, lengthy contractual negotiations, COVID-19 disruptions, and construction problems.

The construction of the hub and rail line has come with a hefty price tag.

The former coalition government invested $35.4 million, Qube put in $8 million, and Tamworth council spent $15 million to purchase the land and $2.2 million to build the hub's infrastructure.

However, Tamworth mayor Russell Webb said the benefits in the long run outweigh the costs.

"In council situation, the benefits will be here for the ratepayers of the future," he said.

"We paid a considerable amount to purchase the land, and put in sewerage, water, and power. But, as we sell the blocks, we pay off the loans and we will make quite a lot of money out of the land."

Cr Webb said the project has taken a long time, but that's not unusual.

"There were always challenges we had to face," he said.

"But, now Tamworth is ahead of the game because we partnered with Qube and we have an intermodal here today. We are officially opening an inland port ... our community, business, and wider community are the beneficiaries of the project today."