Since the 1990’s Australia’s railways have undergone significant change. Privatisation has resulted in a separation of ‘Above Rail’ operations (freight and passenger trains) from ‘Below Rail’ activities (track ownership, maintenance & construction of infrastructure assets and signalling and communications, access to the rail network to run trains and allocation of train paths) as part of national competition reform and open access to government railway infrastructure.

Although Australia’s mainland capital cities became connected by a standard gauge rail network in 1995, freight travelling from the Eastern seaboard to Western Australia still had to contend with up to five different government-owned rail authorities, and a wide and diverse range of safety systems and operating rules.

To overcome some of these obstacles and in parallel with the development of rules on national competition, an Inter-governmental Agreement was reached in July 1996 to legislate terms for national rail safety and accreditation processes. Commonwealth and State governments also agreed in July 1997 to establish a ‘one-stop shop’ for rail operators seeking access to the interstate standard gauge rail network between Brisbane and Perth.

On 1 July 1998 the newly formed Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) commenced operations to negotiate new access to the interstate standard gauge rail network. ARTC is a company under the Corporations Act whose shares are owned by the Commonwealth. See www.artc.com.au for more information about ARTC. 

The standard gauge interstate network comprises ARTC owned and leased rail corridors and corridors still government and privately owned. See Table 1 for an overview.

ARTC has responsibility for the management of over 10,000 route kilometres of standard gauge interstate track in SA, Victoria, WA and NSW plus the Hunter Valley coal rail network and key NSW regional rail links associated with interstate rail operations. Over these corridors ARTC is responsible for:

• selling access to train operators;
• developing new business;
• capital investment in the corridors;
• management of the network; and
• management of infrastructure maintenance.

Although ARTC does not own or lease the rail corridor between Kalgoorlie, Perth and the Port of Kwinana, there is a wholesale agreement in place with the WA government giving ARTC the rights to sell access to this rail corridor.

Queensland Rail (QR) controls the Brisbane – Queensland Border rail corridor and RailCorp controls the extensive Sydney Metropolitan Region. The network from Alice Springs to Darwin is controlled by the Asia Pacific Transport Consortium.
Information about intra-state track owners is contained in a separate Information Sheet.

Capital Investment

In addition to ARTC’s own capital investment programs, it receives investment funding from the Australian government’s AusLink program.

‘The current ARTC investment program is heavily focussed on addressing the current disparity in the quality of mainline rail track compared with the service provided by corresponding road links. The North-South Corridor Study (2006) identified scope for further potential investment’ (Endnote 1).

Key features of the AusLink program are:

• a defined National Network of important road and rail infrastructure links and their intermodal connections;
• a National Land Transport Plan designed to integrate planning and investment on the National Network; and
• earmarked funding for local and regional transport improvements.

AusLink funding allocations for road and rail transport in the five years to 2008/09 are around $15 billion with a further $22.3 billion set aside for the five years to 2013/14.

QR, RailCorp and WA’s WestNetRail are responsible for the maintenance and capital upgrading of infrastructure.

Accreditation of Train Operators

Once a train operator has been provided access under an access agreement, the train operator must be accredited by the ‘Rail Safety Regulator’ in each State in which they operate. If operating from Brisbane to Perth, this means accreditation by five State Regulators although the principle of mutual recognition applies.

Accreditation attests that an operator has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the ‘Rail Safety Regulator’ that the operator has the capacity and competence to manage the risks to safety associated with the rail operations for which accreditation has been sought. There is no prescription on how operators identify the risks associated with their operations and they can choose the methodology most appropriate for identifying risks.

Further detailed information on Accreditation requirements, guidelines and processes is available from the individual State ‘Rail Safety Regulator’ (or their equivalent) websites. The ARA website www.ara.net.au/useful_safety_links.htm provides quick links to these websites.

The rail industry dismisses the continued need to retain State borders for rail operations. National competition reform, open access and privatisation have changed the rail network and operations. Removing the recognition of State borders from rail operations would also assist the adoption and implementation of a national Rail Safety Regulator. In contrast, rail’s major competitor in the domestic freight market, road transport, freely crosses State borders.

This view is supported by the following Recommendation 21 contained in the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Transport and Regional Services Report (July 2007) – The Great Freight Task – Is Australia’s transport network up to the challenge?:

‘The Committee considers that only COAG is in a position to achieve the necessary  cooperation between jurisdictions. It recommends that COAG undertake, as a matter of  urgency, consultations with state and local government authorities, to seek agreement that  transport networks should be treated as a single Australia-wide system…’

National Transport Ministers agreed in May 2008 to consider proposals for a national rail safety regulator and safety investigator as part of reform associated with developing a national transport policy for Australia.

Access Charges

For access to the interstate tracks currently under ARTC management, train operators generally pay a two- part access charge. This includes a fixed component (flagfall) and a mass distance charge based on the gross tonnage of the train multiplied by the distance travelled. Current rates and conditions are shown at www.artc.com.au Access charges for QR, RailCorp and WA controlled rail corridors are set by the individual owners.

Table 1 – Overview of Standard Gauge Interstate Network -
            Ownership and Lease Arrangements 

Endnote
1. COAG Meeting 13 April 2007 – Australia’s Infrastructure, National Overview Report, April 2007- p.14.