The Western Australian Government will carry out a joint Government and industry feasibility study into recommissioning the Greenbushes to Bunbury Railway Line.
The Government, through the South West Development Commission, will allocate $3.3 million to conduct the study, which will be matched by Talison Lithium.
The study will be led by Talison, which operates one of the world’s most important lithium mines at Greenbushes.
The investigation will build on a previous high-level feasibility study that was completed in 2020. For the past 12 months Talison Lithium has been working with relevant stakeholders, investigating prospective models.
With demand for lithium continuing to rise globally and with production from Greenbushes expected to rise to more than two million tonnes in the coming years, both industry and Government determined it was appropriate to begin the next stage of studies.
Talison Lithium will work with rail network manager Arc Infrastructure and the State Government on a detailed assessment of the engineering requirements to bring the railway line back into operation.
There will also be a substantial community impact assessment, recognising that trains have not been seen on this line for over 15 years.
Around 1.5 million tonnes of lithium mineral concentrate are currently moved between the Greenbushes lithium operation and Bunbury each year, equating to around 135 daily truck movements on the South Western Highway.
Over the next five years, the amount of lithium mineral concentrate moved by road from Greenbushes is expected to grow to 2.1 million tonnes each year, equating to more than 70,000 truck movements each year.
Recommissioning the Greenbushes train line and moving the lithium mineral concentrate by train would remove about 200 trucks movements from South Western Highway each day.
The study is expected to be completed in the second half of 2024. Study findings will determine the cost of reinstatement of the track, level crossings and new terminal facilities in the Greenbushes and Bunbury areas, and a joint Talison Lithium/Arc Infrastructure/Government funding proposition.
Regional development minister Don Punch said this new study recognised the significant production increases and bright future for lithium projects in the South-West, as well as the potential to reduce the use of the region’s roads by heavy trucking.
“A recommissioned Bunbury-Greenbushes rail link would also provide the impetus for greater use of the broader rail freight network linking the region with Perth,” he said.
Transport minister Rita Saffioti said the global demand for lithium continued to grow at a rapid pace, and that meant production would increase at mines like Greenbushes.
“In the next five years, we’re expecting the number of truck movements to and from the Greenbushes operation to increase to around 200 every day, which will further increase congestion on the road network,” she said.
“Whilst there are significant positives such as reducing congestion, cutting emissions and improving road safety, we need to understand in detail what would be required to recommission the train line and the associated costs.”
Collie-Preston MLA Jodie Hanns said communities in her electorate, including Donnybrook, had raised the issue of increasing daily truck movements so investigating re-opening the Greenbushes Line will be a welcome one.
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