Rail Freight

The advantages of rail are its capacity and economies of scale. Rail has a competitive advantage for the transport of line haul bulk commodities such as coal.

Queensland's rail network is owned by Queensland Rail (QR) Limited. QR Limited is a company government owned corporation which operates principally under the Government Owned Corporations Act 1993. The Australian rail industry is open to competition including third party access to track related infrastructure This includes regional freight lines, the heavy haul tracks of the state’s rich coal and mineral deposits, and the interstate track between the NSW border and Brisbane. Competition in the Queensland rail industry is governed by the Queensland Competition Authority Act 1997.

Every application for access to the QR network is managed under a detailed process approved by competition regulator, the Queensland Competition Authority.

The QR Access Undertaking 2005 is a framework developed by QR in accordance with the Queensland Competition Authority Act 1997 to manage negotiations with access seekers for the purpose of operating train services. It provides clear guidelines for access and operation on the QR rail network and the responsibilities of QR and access seekers.

Railway operations are separated into above and below rail:

• above rail operations are those activities required to provide and operate train services including rolling stock provision, rolling stock maintenance, train crewing, terminal provision and services and freight handling.
• below rail operations are those activities associated with the provision and management of rail infrastructure including, maintenance and renewal of rail assets and the network management services required for the safe efficient operation of train services on rail infrastructure including train control.

The primary participants in the Queensland rail industry are:

• Queensland Rail – QR is a vertically integrated operator which undertakes both above and below rail operations. QR manages the Queensland rail network and operates the majority of freight trains services on the network.
• QR Network – QR Network is a separate business entity within QR which undertakes below rail operations. As infrastructure manager for the Queensland rail network, QR Network Access manages third party access to the Queensland rail network and related infrastructure.
• Australian Railroad Group – Australian Railroad Group is a subsidiary company of Queensland rail which undertakes above rail operations on the Queensland rail network.
• Pacific National – Pacific National is a private national rail operator which undertakes above rail operations on the Queensland rail network. It has third party access to the Queensland rail network for its freight operations.