The NSW Rail Access Undertaking provides for third party access to certain parts of the NSW rail network. It limits the amount that rail owners can charge other businesses for using the network – they cannot receive more revenue than the economic costs of providing the service.
We have found that the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) met this requirement in 2022-23 for all of its non-Hunter Valley coal networks in NSW. This review did not consider the ARTC interstate network or the ARTC Hunter Valley coal network as these are regulated by the ACCC.
This review affects ARTC and the users of its rail networks. If ARTC collects too much revenue from rail users, then it must return this over-recovery.