30 September 2004
Key Points:
Murray West and his team successfully advised on the signing of the historic agreement between the firm’s client, the Australian Rail Track Corporation ("ARTC") and the NSW and Commonwealth Governments. Under the agreement ARTC has taken a long term lease of the NSW mainline track and Hunter Valley rail freight corridors.
"It is historic in that it brings together the rail freight infrastructure in the states of NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland under a 'one stop shop' access regime for the first time since those rail networks were established," Mr West said. "The agreement also underpins the re-organisation of the NSW rail organisations which was announced earlier this year and lays the bedrock for the overhaul of the rail freight industry in Australia," he continued. "As a result, the transport of interstate freight in Australia will shift significantly from road to rail."
The agreement also unlocks about $1.32 billion in Federal funding for ARTC to be invested in the NSW rail freight network over the next five years, including the construction of a new 24 kilometre freight line from Campbelltown to the Port of Botany. This will free up additional capacity on the metropolitan passenger network.
The signing of the agreement is the culmination of more than two and a half years of intense effort by the ARTC and Clayton Utz which acted on all legal aspects of the transaction, involving a range of NSW and Commonwealth Government departments as well as relevant unions.
For further information, please contact Murray West.
