The WA Government has proposed methods to make it easier for third parties to use the state’s privately operated railways, in a draft decision paper released at the end of December.
The paper proposes changes to the state’s Rail Access Regime, aimed to make it operate more efficiently and effectively, while maintaining flexibility for the diverse range of railways in the state.
“Given the size of Western Australia, it is critical that we can transport goods as efficiently as possible to maximise our competitiveness in international markets,” state treasurer Ben Wyatt said on December 24.
“Effective railway access regulation plays an important role in achieving this, particularly for key industries like minerals and grain.”
Separate reviews of the Access Regime by the state’s Economic Regulation Authority in 2011 and 2015 raised considerable concerns that it does not provide an effective alternative when private negotiations fail between network operators and third parties.
The State Government says it’s been consulting with stakeholders over the past 12 months on potential reforms to the Regime to help make it more effective.
“We are proposing a set of changes to the Regime that will improve the timeliness and efficiency of the access negotiation process to make sure that Western Australian businesses can transport their goods to market as efficiently as possible, while still ensuring that appropriate incentives for rail infrastructure investment are maintained,” Wyatt said.
Stakeholder submissions on the impact of the decision paper’s proposed changes are being sought by February 25.