The state government has announced its intention to buy back the South West rail freight network from operator Arc Infrastructure, 25 years after it was sold for $585 million.
The state government has announced its intention to buy back the South West rail freight network from operator Arc Infrastructure, 25 years after it was sold for $585 million.
Premier Roger Cook said the growth in key industries in WA, particularly record grain harvests, meant the demands on the network were at record highs.
He asserted that public control would allow for greater and more targeted government investment and increase usage of the freight rail network.
"Rail is the most efficient way of moving our goods to and from the ports, and with greater control, we can ensure government investment promotes better use of the network," Mr Cook said.
The government has not provided any details on where that investment might occur.
Nor has it speculated on how much it may need to pay to buy back the current lease agreement, which has another 24 years to run.
It has simply written to Arc Infrastructure to advise of its intention to enter negotiations to return the freight rail network back to public hands.
Arc’s parent company Brookfield Infrastructure Partners declined to comment on the announcement.
Arc has invested more than $2 billion in the network since 2000 and the volume of freight it carries has increased from 30 million tonnes at the time of privatisation to 51mt last year.
This included iron ore, alumina, nickel, grain and shipping containers.
It employs about 500 people managing the network, which stretch es about 5,000 kilometres.
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti claimed the privatisation of the network in 2000 was a reckless decision “and the reality is the deal has not stood the test of time”.
"Some of the state's biggest industries are seeking to increase their usage of freight rail to move goods, and the state government want to support that,” she said.
"Rail is critical to a more efficient freight network, and it also means less trucks on roads, which is something local communities are always calling for.”
Opposition leader and shadow transport minister Shane Love said the uncosted commitment was nothing more than a hollow promise.
“Labor’s empty announcement offers no details on the cost to taxpayers, how it will be funded, or how it will facilitate the long-term management of the network for its various stakeholders, including our vitally important grain freight network,” he said.
Mr Love said Labor’s light-touch regulatory approach to the freight rail network in WA had failed, but buying back the rail network was not the only solution.
“There are clearly changes needed to facilitate more freight on rail,” Mr Love said.
“The Cook Labor Government has done nothing over the past eight years to improve the regulatory framework to allow easier rail access for freight users.
“This knee-jerk reaction to promise a buy-back without addressing that underlying issues does not provide a solution.
“This announcement indicates an abject failure by Rita Saffioti as transport minister over the past eight years to put in place the correct settings to improve access to the rail network and maximise this important resource.
“The transport minister has been singularly obsessed with Metronet while failing to do a single thing to improve freight efficiencies and road safety outside of the metro area.”
