A fresh push is under way to shift more Murray Basin produce from trucks onto freight rail, as agricultural interests in north-west Victoria renew pressure for the network to carry a bigger share of the region's grain and harvest task.

The campaign, reported by the ABC, targets the Murray Basin freight rail network that serves Victoria's broadacre cropping country — the corridor set that growers, grain handlers and shippers rely on as the alternative to road haulage for moving produce to port.

Why does it matter now?

Each harvest, Murray Basin growers move large volumes of grain by road when rail capacity or service reliability falls short. Every truckload that shifts to rail changes the cost equation for growers and takes heavy vehicles off regional roads — the core argument freight rail advocates have made for the corridor since its standardisation and upgrade program was first promised.

The renewed push signals that shippers and producers still see rail as underused, and that they want service levels and investment to match what the network was upgraded to deliver.

What happens next?

The campaign now rests with the Victorian government and track manager to respond — and on whether the Murray Basin network can win back tonnage that has drifted to road.