The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Governmen ...

-owned

statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

. It operates one of the largest rail networks in the nation spanning 8,500km across five states, 39 worksites and more than 50 First Nations. ARTC continues to expand the network through major infrastructure projects including

Inland Rail Inland Rail, also known as Inland Railway and previously Australian Inland Railway Expressway, is a railway line under construction in Australia. Once complete, it will connect the ports of Melbourne and Brisbane along a new route west of th ...

, which is a new 1,700km freight line between Melbourne and Brisbane via regional Victoria, NSW and Queensland that will complete Australia’s national freight network and better connect producers to markets.

History

In November 1996, the Australian Government announced a major rail reform package that included the sale of government-owned train operators Australian National and

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the ...

, and the establishment of ARTC to manage the sections of the interstate rail network which had been controlled by the two former organisations. ARTC was incorporated in February 1998, with operations starting in July 1998 when the lines managed by Australian National's Track Australia were transferred to it.Annual Report 30 June 1999
Australian Rail Track Corporation These were the lines from

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a seaport, it is now a road traffic and railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about north of the state c ...

, Tarcoola to

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' A ...

, Port Augusta to

Whyalla Whyalla was founded as "Hummocks Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Gawler and along with Port Pirie and Port Augusta ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It ...

, Adelaide to

Serviceton __NOTOC__ Serviceton is a small town in rural western Victoria, Australia. It is near the Victorian–South Australian border, north-west of Melbourne. Named after James Service, who was Premier of Victoria in 1880 and from 1883 to 1886, it ...

, and the Outer Harbor line in Adelaide. Its inaugural CEO was David Marchant. In 2000, the Tarcoola to Alice Springs line was leased to the Asia Pacific Transport Consortium as part of the project to extend the line to Darwin.Annual Report 30 June 2001
Australian Rail Track Corporation

Victoria

In 1999, ARTC signed a five-year deal with VicTrack, the rail manager for the

Victorian government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and t ...

, to lease the standard gauge

North East line The North East MRT line (NEL) is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit, it is the shortest MRT line at . The line runs from HarbourFront station in southern Singapore to Punggol station in the no ...

from

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – t ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

and the Western standard gauge line from Melbourne to

. This was later extended for another 10 years, and in May 2008 for another 45 years. As part of the lease extension, the run-down and under-utilised

broad-gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union ( ...

line from

Seymour Seymour may refer to: Places Australia * Seymour, Victoria, a township * Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria * Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria * Seymour, Tasmania, a localit ...

to Albury, that paralleled the standard gauge line, was leased to ARTC and converted to

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in E ...

. Included was construction of the five-kilometre Wodonga Rail Bypass which eliminated 11 level crossings in that city. In March 2009, the Portland line from Maroona to Portland would be leased to ARTC for 50 years, with $15 million to be invested in the line. ARTC also manages the Oaklands railway line between Benalla, Victoria and Oaklands, NSW.

Western Australia

In 2001, ARTC was granted rights for 15 years to sell access between

and Kwinana,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, to interstate rail operators under a wholesale access agreement with the

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

n track-lessee

Arc Infrastructure Arc Infrastructure (previously known as Brookfield Rail and WestNet Rail) is a transport infrastructure owner and access provider in Western Australia with a long-term lease on the network from the Government of Western Australia. It operates a ...

New South Wales

In September 2004, the

New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governme ...

-owned RailCorp leased its interstate and

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and ...

lines to the ARTC for 60 years. The lines covered by the lease are: * Main South line between Macarthur and

* North Coast line between

Broadmeadow Broadmeadow is the geographic center of Newcastle city. Its main commercial hub is located at the "Nineways".Border Loop * Main North line between Maitland and

Werris Creek Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had ...

* Broken Hill line between Parkes and

* Unanderra to Moss Vale line * Sandy Hollow to Gulgong line * Cootamundra to Parkes line * Parkes to Narromine line * Troy Junction to Merrygoen line As part of this agreement, ARTC agreed to the following investment programmes: *$192 million to build the Southern Sydney Freight Line, a new dedicated southern access route for freight trains through the south-western Sydney metropolitan area from Sefton to Macarthur, opened in January 2013. *$152 million to upgrade the

network, including track strengthening and $67 million to eliminate bottlenecks, increasing the capacity of the network from 85 million to over 100 million tonnes per year. *$186 million to upgrade the Main South line from Macarthur to

. The investment improved signalling, extended the length of crossing loops and replaced the Murrumbidgee Bridge at

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's ...

to assist in reducing the transit times for freight trains between

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

and

by three hours. *$119 million for the North Coast line from Maitland to Border Loop including replacement of the 1920s signalling system between

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

and Border Loop assisting in reducing the travel time for freight trains between

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

by up to 3.5 hours. *$21 million for the Broken Hill line between Parkes and

, including funds to raise height clearances allowing the passage of double-stacked container trains. The Rail Infrastructure Corporation also contracted operational responsibility of the remainder of its country

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...

s to ARTC from September 2004. From January 2012, this was transferred to the

John Holland Group The John Holland Group is an infrastructure, building, rail and transport business operating in Australia and New Zealand. Headquartered in Melbourne, it is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction. History The company was founded in ...

operating as the Country regional Network. In July 2011, responsibility for the Mungindi line from The Gap to

Boggabilla Boggabilla is a small town in the far north of inland New South Wales, Australia in Moree Plains Shire. At the , the town had a population of 551, of which 63% identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. The name Boggabilla ...

line was transferred from the Country Rail Infrastructure Authority to the ARTC. In August 2012, RailCorp leased its Metropolitan Goods line from Port Botany to Sefton to the ARTC for 50 years.

Queensland

In January 2010, the

Government of Queensland The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy was form ...

leased its standard-gauge line from Border Loop on the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

border to Acacia Ridge,

to ARTC for 60 years. In February 2014, the Federal and Queensland governments agreed to investigate further incorporating Queensland into the national rail network. This ultimately did not proceed.

Responsibilities

ARTC does not operate any trains, but provides and maintains the infrastructure for train operators to run on. ARTC controls tracks in all mainland states. These were previously run by five separate state railways in an uncoordinated fashion that gave an advantage to road transport. By combining the infrastructure under one corporation it was expected that a more integrated and coordinated one-stop-shop would be created. It provides its own reporting numbers to trains that operate on its network. It also allows Commonwealth officers undercover privileges presenting as staff of ARTC. ARTC does not control any of the

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

track in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

, nor

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union ( C ...

track in Victoria. However it does control the Albion to Jacana freight line which has been partially converted to

dual gauge In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to ca ...

for use as a passing lane, but is considered a main line on the broad gauge network. It was transferred from VicTrack in May 2009.Albion - Jacana Transferred to ARTC ''

Newsrail ''Newsrail'' is a monthly railway magazine covering the railways and tramways of Victoria, Australia. It was launched in January 1973 by the Australian Railway Historical Society The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) aims to foste ...

'' July 2009 page 215

Owned corridors

( Melbourne–Adelaide line) *Adelaide to

and

(

–Port Augusta &

Trans-Australian Railway The Trans-Australian Railway, opened in 1917, runs from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain in the process. As the only rail freight corridor between Western Australia and the east ...

) *Port Augusta to

( Whyalla line) * Crystal Brook to

( Crystal Brook –Broken Hill line) * Sefton to Macarthur ( Southern Sydney Freight Line)

Leased corridors

(

) *Melbourne to

( Western line) * Maroona to Portland ( Portland line) * Port Botany to Sefton ( Metropolitan Goods line) * Macarthur to

( Main South line) *

Unanderra Unanderra ( ) is a suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 6 km south-west of the Wollongong CBD. It is bordered to the west by Farmborough, Cordeaux Heights and Farmborough Heights in the Mount Kembla ...

Moss Vale Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wingecarribee Shire. It is located on the Illawarra Highway, which connects to Wollongong and the Illawarra coast via Macquarie Pass. Moss Vale has severa ...

( Unanderra to Moss Vale line) *

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. I ...

to Parkes ( Cootamundra to Parkes line) * Parkes to

( Broken Hill line) *Parkes to Narromine * Troy Junction to Merrygoen line *

Broadmeadow Broadmeadow is the geographic center of Newcastle city. Its main commercial hub is located at the "Nineways".Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

( North Coast line) * Maitland to

North Star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...

( Main North line) * Muswellbrook to Gulgong

ATMS

ARTC is the client for the Advanced Train Management System (ATMS) being developed by

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

. This will replace older signalling and safe-working systems particularly in remote areas, such as deserts, where communications and power infrastructure is poor.

References

{{Authority control Commonwealth Government-owned companies of Australia Interstate rail in Australia Railway companies established in 1998 Railway infrastructure companies of Australia Australian companies established in 1998