State Government up to six months away from Tier 3 bid

The State Government is still up to six months away from making its first official plea for Federal funding to upgrade WA’s shuttered Tier 3 lines. Countryman can reveal a bid for funding to reinstate three of the lines is being rolled into a broader business case for Federal cash to overhaul WA’s agricultural supply chain. The business case is expected to urge for major upgrades to roads and rail in WA to be included in Infrastructure Australia’s February or August update to its priority list. The priority list is a live document updated once or twice a year and provides a guide to prioritise Federally funded infrastructure investments in Australia. WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the business case would argue upgrading WA’s agricultural supply chain was of “national significance”. It would also argue the cost of upgrading roads and rail, including three of the Tier 3 lines, would be justified by the economic and community benefits. “Assessment by Infrastructure Australia is a precondition for potential future funding partnerships with the Federal Government for rail freight investment,” Ms Saffioti said. “Implementation of the proposals is likely to involve contributions from industry and all tiers of government.” The plea for funding to upgrade the Tier 3 lines comes after a powerful new report found it would cost $1.09 million to repair and reopen all 509km of the Tier 3 lines. The State has set its sights on securing $500m in Federal cash to reopen three of the lines — Quairading to York; Kulin to Narrogin; and Kondinin to West Merredin. Ms Saffioti said the State had already been in discussions with Arc and CBH to establish a short list of high-priority projects along WA’s Tier 1 and 2 networks. But she said those discussions and the funding bid would now be expanded to include the three Tier 3 lines. “Since releasing the Tier 3 engineering report several weeks ago, we have begun work on the business case submission for Infrastructure Australia,” Ms Saffioti said. “While still in the early stages, we expect to progress a combined business case for the WA agricultural supply chain. “The case will consider the Tier 1, 2, and 3 rail lines, State roads and the secondary freight network or local government roads.” However, Ms Saffioti said the “agencies” would create a short list of projects, but would not confirm whether that could exclude the Tier 3 lines. “During the process, the agencies will initially consider a long list of options that will then be shortlisted for detailed evaluation,” she said. “Each option will represent an integrated package of infrastructure upgrades.” The State Government has already lodged one submission to Infrastructure Australia to have upgrades to WA’s agricultural supply chain added to the Infrastructure Priority List. But Ms Saffioti said a bid to reinstate three of WA’s Tier 3 lines was now being added to an updated “stage two” submission. “Infrastructure Australia’s business case development process involves a series of submissions,” she said. “The transport agencies have already submitted a Stage 1 Problem Identification and Prioritisation submission with the aim of having WA’s agricultural supply chain added to the next priority list. “We are aiming to submit the preliminary Stage 2 business case within the next six months.” Ms Saffioti said the transport agencies working on the submission would engage with transport infrastructure operators and users across the agricultural supply chain. She said they would also contact affected communities and advocates to demonstrate the community benefits of upgrading the road and rail networks. Ms Saffioti said the consultation would build on extensive consultation recently undertaken before creating the Revitalising Agriculture Region Freight Strategy. The RARFS was released in July, to identify a list of prioritised rail and intermodal projects in WA. Infrastructure Australia plans to release updates to the list in February and August. There are just four WA projects on the list — the Bindoon Bypass, Myalup-Wellington Water Project, METRONET Morley to Ellenbrook Line, and METRONET High Capacity Signalling. There are three east coast rail projects currently on the list, including freight rail access to Port Kembla, South Australian regional bulk port development, and advanced train management system implementation on interstate rail network.