Grain rail future in the hands of Fed budget

Mr Larsen currently has his fingers crossed in the hope that pleas to the federal and state governments for about $200m to improve the state’s grain rail infrastructure have been heard.

“If we get a clear message from the government that it won’t invest, then the future for grain rail is not a good one,” Mr Larsen said.

Last month, WestNet Rail launched “Grain on Rail,” an initiative set up to create government and industry awareness about the urgency to fix WA’s inadequate grain rail infrastructure to ensure its sustainability.  

The campaign believed rail, rather than road, was the more economical, environmentally-friendly and safest way of transporting the $4.5bn of grain exports to the ports.

WestNet Rail did not believe the $200m for the upgrades should come out of its pockets but if it did pick up the tab, the costs would likely be passed on to rail users, a move that Mr Larsen believed would boost the appeal of roads as an alternative form of transport to rail.  

Western Australia shipped a record 1.54m tonnes of grain in March, exceeding that of all other Australian states combined.

About 65% of grain is currently transported by rail and 35% on road.

Should the grain rail network cease, the Government would need to cough up about $350m for road upgrades and maintenance costs, which is almost $100m more than if the Government just upgraded the grain rail network, according to “Grain on Rail".

Mr Larsen said WestNet Rail was yet to determine the minimum cost for the improvements though its upgrades could still get underway in the event the Federal Government gave it less than the required sum.

“There are key lines that need investment now,” he said. 

“We can work with less than $200m but it would mean a lower volume of lines.”

Discussions were currently underway about which parts of the 2,300 km grain rail network WestNet would give upgrade priorities to, Mr Larsen said.