Background - Organisation of Australia's Railways
The ownership and management arrangements for Australia's rail infrastructure and rail operations are generally divided into "below" rail (track management) and "above" rail (operators of trains and rollingstock). These functions are performed by a mix of Government and private sector operators.
NSW:
Interstate and Hunter Valley lines leased to Australian Rail Track Corporation. Branch lines are managed by ARTC on behalf of NSW.
The Urban System is operated by RailCorp.
VIC:
Interstate standard gauge lines leased by Australian Rail Track Corporation.
Broad gauge (and some standard gauge) branch lines are owned by the Victorian Government Victrack.
The Urban system is operated by Connex.
QLD:
System is owned and managed by Queensland Rail.
WA:
Interstate standard gauge line from Kalgoorlie to Adelaide is owned by Australian Rail Track Corporation.
Rail lines in south-west of state are currently leased to Australian Railroad Group. Australian Railroad Group has been sold to Queensland Rail and Babcock and Brown. Pilbara lines are managed by mining companies.
SA:
Interstate standard gauge line owned by Australian Rail Track Corporation. Links to Darwin are operated by FreightLink. Other lines (mainly grain) are operated by Genesee and Wyoming Australia Pty Ltd.
Adelaide Urban system, which is operated by TransAdelaide.
TAS:
Rail is owned by the Tasmanian Government.
Rail is operated by Pacific National.
Australian Government Rail Reforms:
In November 1996, the Australian Government announced a major rail reform package that included:
- The sale of Australian National Railways Commission (AN)
- The sale of National Rail Corporation (NRC)
- The establishment of Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to manage access to the interstate rail network.
The objective of these reforms was to respond to rail's decreasing market share by increasing private sector involvement to lower the cost of transport to industry, better meet the needs of customers and provide long term employment in the rail sector.
Some of the key reforms include:
Sale of Australian National Railways Commission (AN):
The Australian National Railways Commission (AN) was established in 1978 by the amalgamation of the Commonwealth Railways, South Australian Railways and Tasmanian Government Railways. AN took over the operation of all Commonwealth and non-urban South Australian lines and the railways of Tasmania.
In 1997/98 the Australian Government sold AN's interstate freight and interstate passenger services to three operators.
Great Southern Railways (GSR) took charge of the passenger services, The Indian Pacific, The Ghan and the Overland on 7 November 1998.
Australian Southern Railroad (ASR) now Genesee and Wyoming Australia Pty Ltd took control of the SA rail freight businesses on 31 October 1997.
Transrail took ownership of Tasrail on 14 November 1997. In 2000 Australian Transport Network (ATN) took ownership. In February 2004 Pacific National bought ATN.
Sale of National Rail Corporation (NRC):
The National Rail Corporation (NRC) was established under the Commonwealth Corporation Law and was jointly owned by the Australian New South Wales and Victorian Governments. NRC was formed under the National Rail Agreement 1991 to operate interstate freight operations in Australia; NRC commenced operations in April 1993.
NRC and the NSW Governments owned freight operator, Freightcorp were jointly sold in January 2002 and has operated as a private entity Pacific National.
Formation of Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC):
At the 14 November 1997 meeting of the Australian Transport Council, State and Commonwealth Transport Ministers signed an Intergovernmental Agreement to establish the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to provide a single point of access for the standard gauge interstate track. The ARTC is a public company whose shares are wholly owned by the Australian Government.
Australian Rail Track Corporation Ltd was incorporated on 25 February 1998 under the Corporations Law. While the AN train services were all privatised, ANs mainline interstate track was transferred to the ARTC which commenced operations on 1 July 1998.
The functions of ARTC include:
- Providing efficient and seamless access to the interstate rail network by entering into access agreements with track owners;
- Managing track maintenance and construction, train pathing, scheduling, timetabling and train control on track owned or controlled by the company;
- Improving the interstate rail infrastructure through better asset management, and by managing (in consultation with rail operators and track owners) a program of commercial and public funded investment for the interstate rail network; and
- Promoting operational efficiency and (by working with other track owners) uniformity of operating, technical and safety standards and practices on the interstate rail network.
Australian Rail Track Corporation owns or leases the interstate track from Kalgoorlie in the west to the NSW/QLD border in the east.