About ARTC
The Australian Rail Track Corporation Ltd (ARTC) was created after the Commonwealth and State Governments agreed in 1997 to the formation of a 'one stop' shop for all operators seeking access to the National interstate rail network.
NATMAP Railways of Australia - 2004 Map (2,197kb)
Australia Rail Track Corporation Ltd. - Rail Network
ARTC currently has responsibility for the management of over 10,000 route kilometres of standard gauge interstate track, in South Australia , Victoria and Western Australia , and New South Wales . ARTC also manages the Hunter Valley Coal Rail network in New South Wales (311 km) and other regional rail links in New South Wales (651 km).
ARTC currently has responsibility for the management of over 10,000 route kilometres of standard gauge interstate track, in South Australia , Victoria and Western Australia , and New South Wales.
For access to the interstate tracks currently under ARTC management, train operators, in the main, pay a two part access charge.The National Interstate Rail Network Comprises
ARTC owned rail corridors:
- Adelaide to Wolseley
- Adelaide - Port Augusta - Kalgoorlie
- Port Augusta to Whyalla
- Tarcoola to Alice Springs (long term lease to ARTC)
- Broken Hill to Crystal Brook
In Victoria, ARTC leases the two mainline interstate and standard gauge corridors from the Victorian Government. These are:
- Melbourne to Wolseley
- Melbourne to Albury
In New South Wales ARTC leases the mainline interstate corridors from the NSW Government. These are:
- Albury to Macarthur
- Newcastle to Queensland border
- Cootamundra to Broken Hill
ARTC has also leased from the NSW Government the Hunter Valley coal rail network:
- Newcastle Ports to Werris Creek
- Muswellbrook to Ulan
and the NSW regional rail network corridors:
- Parkes to Werris Creek
- Merrygoen to Ulan
Over these corridors, ARTC is responsible for:
- Selling access to train operators
- The development of new business
- Capital investment in the corridors
- Management of the Network
- The management of infrastructure maintenance
The remainder of the interstate rail network is still controlled by the various government agencies as follows:
- Brisbane to Queensland Border (QR)
- Sydney Metropolitan Region (RailCorp)
- Kalgoorlie to Perth (WestNet)
ARTC has a wholesale agreement in place with the Western Australia Government giving ARTC rights to sell access to interstate services between Kalgoorlie, Perth and the Port of Kwinana.
The network from Alice Springs to Darwin is controlled by the Asia Pacific Transport Consortium.
In addition to ARTC's own capital investment programs it also receives investment funding from the Australian government's AusLink program.
ARTC is investing a further $2.1 billion over the next 3 to 4 years on the main interstate rail corridor as part of its North South Improvement Strategy. This includes $381 million in the Hunter Valley Coal Rail Network.
For access to the interstate tracks currently under ARTC management, train operators, in the main, pay a two part access charge. A fixed component, known as the flagfall, is in effect a charge for occupying capacity on the network, regardless of the size of the train. The second charge is a mass distance charge based on the gross tonnage of the train multiplied by the distance travelled.
There are currently nine major operators now using the ARTC owned or leased network. They are
- Queensland Rail
- CityRail
- Australian Southern Railroad
- CountryLink
- Great Southern Railway
- Pacific National
- Patrick Rail Operations
- Specialised Container Transport
- FreightLink