Twenty-six years after Western Australia's freight rail network was privatised, the state government has taken a concrete step towards buying it back. The Cook Labor government introduced a bill into parliament this week that, if passed, would create the legal framework to return the network to public ownership, the ABC reported.

The network matters to farmers because millions of tonnes of grain and minerals move each year over its 5,500 kilometres of track, linking the ports of Geraldton, Fremantle, Bunbury, Albany and Esperance with the state's agricultural and mining regions. A Liberal-National government sold the operation in 2000 and leased the underlying network for 49 years, largely because of the rail system's mounting debt; it is now operated by Arc Infrastructure, whose parent Brookfield is in commercial negotiations with the state.

The government argues that public control would allow more targeted investment and heavier use of the network, promising more regional jobs, better support for farmers and fewer trucks on regional roads. A central driver is the push to reopen the Tier 3 lines, more than 500km of track closed in 2014. Bruce Rock farmer Jane Fuchsbichler told the ABC the closure put more trucks on the road and that local governments and the road toll are bearing the consequences.

CBH Group, the state's largest grain handler, has welcomed the move in the hope that a buyback will help the infrastructure keep pace with rapidly rising production. In the Goldfields, a government takeover is seen as the only realistic route to long-standing plans to realign the railway around Kalgoorlie-Boulder's Super Pit gold mine and build an intermodal freight facility. The Rail, Tram and Bus Union also backs public ownership.

The obstacles are cost and condition. The Tier 3 lines are not in working order, with farmers describing tracks overgrown by trees up to 3 metres tall and badly deteriorated sleepers; a 2020 independent engineering report put the cost of restoring them in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The purchase price itself has been described by the transport minister only as a "significant investment". Tony Seabrook, a former president of the Pastoralists and Graziers Association, said he had heard figures "in the billions" and expected the deal to be "incredibly expensive, and probably prohibitive", adding that he was wary of more government control after the state's experience with the lamb industry. A Deloitte business case on the Super Pit realignment commissioned last year has not been released.

Passing the Rail Freight System Bill 2026 is only the legal step; the government still has to show the purchase is economically and financially responsible. WA Nationals leader Shane Love welcomed the announcement but called for transparency, and shadow transport minister Steve Martin said the cost must be known before his party could assess the proposal. The government says any transaction would cause minimal disruption to Arc's customers and staff; Brookfield declined to comment.

Reported by Kate Forrester for ABC Rural.

Source: ABC Rural