Deregulation and reform of rail in Australia: Some emerging constraints

The Australian Government over the last two decades has embarked on an intensive microeconomic reform program. Associated with this has been the deregulation of the rail sector. The mechanism of deregulation has been by vertically separating the below and above rail infrastructure and the creation of a number of rail access regimes. Evidence is emerging which indicates that the mechanism of deregulation is an impediment to the development of an integrated national network, the objective of deregulation and rail reform. This paper will discuss the mechanism of deregulation in Australia within the context of developments overseas. In particular it will discuss the development of a number of state specific rail access regimes and raise some problems and constraints being encountered in the reform process. The paper adds to a growing body of knowledge relating to infrastructure reform and deregulation and highlights some major constraints embedded in the model. The concluding section will discuss the relevance of past and current reform of Australian policies to rail policy makers outside Australia.