<p>Fortescue Metals Group subsidiary the Pilbara Infrastructure (TPI) had lodged an application with the National Competition Council to open up another Rio Tinto rail line in Western Australia, Fortescue said yesterday (Monday, January 21).</p> <p>Two months after seeking to open Rio’s Hamersley Iron rail network and the BHP Billiton Goldsworthy rail network, under Part IIIA of the <em>Trade Practices Act 1974</em> , TPI is using the same Act to declare Rio Tinto’s Robe River Railway.</p> <p>The Robe River line runs from Rio’s Mesa J (Deepdale) mine site to Rio’s port at Cape Lambert. </p> <p>"Fortescue is seeking to open the tremendous transport logistic synergies available in the Pilbara to all Australian mining companies,” Fortescue executive director Graeme Rowley said. </p> <p>“There are numerous stranded iron ore deposits in the Pilbara which alone may not be of sufficient scale to support their own infrastructure yet could become viable with access to existing infrastructure such as the Robe River Railway.”</p> <br />
