Hansard 8/8

[arthur marsh <marsh@ties.itu.int>]

      Australian House of Representatives Hansard for 15th February 1999
                                       
                           QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
                       Australian Rail Track Corporation
                                       
                        This document has DRAFT status
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   Mr BAIRD--My question is to the Minister for Transport and Regional
   Services. Could the minister advise the House as to the achievements
   of the Australian Rail Track Corporation since its establishment by
   the government and what has been its impact on prices?
   
   Mr ANDERSON--I thank the honourable member for his question and
   acknowledge his long-term interest in transport matters and, in
   particular, in the area of rail reform. If there was an area of
   transport in this country that was really left in a decrepit state,
   more so than other sectors of transport, by the previous government,
   it was certainly rail.
   The ARTC has been operating since July 1998. It has already made very
   significant progress in furthering the goals of the intergovernmental
   agreement of November 1997. ARTC took control of the Victorian
   interstate track in July 1998. It now provides for a single point of
   access for operators wishing to access the South Australian and
   Victorian interstate tracks. It is negotiating with track owners in
   Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland for exclusive rights
   to market and sell access to the interstate track in those
   jurisdictions.
   The ARTC access pricing regime has resulted in prices for interstate
   network access in South Australia and Victoria being set at two per
   cent less in real terms than 1995 prices, which goes to demonstrate
   what good policy can achieve.
   The ARTC has played a pivotal role in promoting the entry of new
   freight operators to the interstate freight market--competition that
   is working. In particular, the entry of former interstate freight
   carriers FreightCorp and V-Line has made a real difference.
   Since taking control of the Victorian interstate track, speed
   restrictions--which of course impact on everything from fuel costs to
   reliability of the network to competitiveness to attracting
   business--have been reduced. This has resulted in a reduction from 27
   per cent to around 22 per cent of the track being subjected to speed
   restrictions, and that will improve dramatically over the next few
   months.
   It needs to be kept in mind that we have allocated some $250 million
   of Commonwealth money to the upgrading of the track across Australia.
   We hope that we can encourage significantly greater investment from
   the private sector and from the states. Indeed, the first section of
   line to be designated for upgrading is Pura Pura, between Melbourne
   and Adelaide. The Labor Party had a go at rebuilding that, and the
   trains travelled slower after they had done the track up than they did
   before they began. We have now managed to start a major reinvestment
   program in Australian rail and I believe that the benefits will be
   very widespread.
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