More investment urged to get rail back on track

<p>All levels of government should shoulder more of the risk when investing in infrastructure, especially private rail projects, FreightLink chief executive John Fullerton said at the Australian Rail Summit in Sydney.</p> <p>Mr Fullerton’s comments were made in relation to the proposed Melbourne-Brisbane inland rail corridor.</p> <p>If the project was to happen, governments needed to invest more than the 33% of funds sunk into the Darwin-Adelaide rail project, he said yesterday.</p> <p>&#8220The private sector contributed two-thirds of the construction and establishment costs of building this line and took all the risks,&#8221 he said.</p> <p>The governments of South Australia, the Northern Territory and the Federal Government only contributed a third and took no risk, but still reaped the economic benefits of the project, something which Mr Fullerton reckoned would never again happen.</p> <p>&#8220I think there needs to be more government funding to support the establishment of what is high-cost infrastructure,&#8221 he said.</p> <p>FreightLink’s $1.2bn railway recently declared itself up for sale, with Toll Holdings signalling its intent to buy.</p> <p>Toll is FreightLink’s biggest customer, accounting for 31% of business.</p> <p>Mr Fullerton’s only comment on the proposed deal was to declare the line was still open for business and that &#8220it was not going anywhere&#8221.</p> <p>The line had been experiencing strong growth, especially from the bulk minerals market and junior miners that were slowly springing up along the route, he said.</p> <p>The bulk market had made 2007&#4708 a record year for the line, with 34 train movements a week.</p> <p>Mr Fullerton predicted an even bigger 2008&#4709, with 42 trains per week expected to utilise the track.</p> <br />