WHEATBELT Tier 3 rail lines, due to close at the end of this month, are now set to remain open until October 31 next year following a commitment from Transport Minister Troy Buswell last week.
In the lead up to another State election the announcement was a minor victory for WA grain growers after months of campaigning in a desperate bid to keep grain on rail and trucks off roads.
Mr Buswell announced Tier 3s would stay in operation "with assistance from State Government investment" after a meeting with CBH and Brookfield Rail held on October 9.
He said the State Government's investment of $3.325 million in 2011/12 and the fact that lower than predicted volumes of grain had been transported on the Tier 3 lines since 2011, resulting in less wear and tear, enabled the lines to stay open.
He also believed Brookfield Rail and CBH would continue to negotiate the transport of grain by rail and if economically viable, keep Tier 3 lines operational in the future.
Mr Buswell said while all parties at the meeting agreed it wasn't time for the State Government to intervene, it would continue to work with them to facilitate a sustainable arrangement to keep Tier 3 lines operational.
"The State Government is confident Brookfield and CBH can find a mutually agreeable commercial solution which is both efficient and effective in the long term," he said.
It was also recently revealed a confidential meeting held at Parliament House on September 13 between Mr Buswell, CBH and it's long-term grain rail contractor Watco was brokered by Liberal Agricultural Region MLC Brian Ellis.
Mr Ellis' office claimed the meeting was pivotal in bringing together senior executives from CBH and Watco to meet with Mr Buswell which "got the ball rolling" for the retention of Tier 3s after which CBH, Watco and Brookfield took part in further discussions in the lead up to Mr Buswell's announcement last week.
Mr Ellis chaired the Legislative Council committee and tabled its report on June 21 which made recommendations for an extension to the Tier 3 deadline to allow a new business case to be presented. "In his response to the committee's report Mr Buswell indicated that he would leave the door open for a commercial resolution and he has been as good as his word," Mr Ellis said.
But that still wasn't enough for Nationals MLCs Philip Gardiner and Max Trenorden who remained deeply concerned about the future of Tier 3s after Mr Buswell's office claimed the lines would "remain in operation with State Government investment."
When Mr Buswell's office was asked by Farm Weekly whether any further monetary investment would actually be made in the lines between now and October 2013 a spokesperson said no additional comments would be made.
Both Mr Gardiner and Mr Trenorden believed Mr Buswell's announcement was a band-aid solution which deferred a decision without any firm or further government investment commitment.
They believed the merit for investment in Tier 3s was already demonstrated and made crystal clear.
"The announcement by Mr Buswell that the Tier 3 lines are to remain open until at least October 2013 without a definite commitment from government in regard to furnishing an investment strategy for government to bring the lines back to a performance standard which is fit for purpose is at best overlooking the merits of the issue and at worst demonstrating shallow political expediency," Mr Gardiner said.
"The Tier 3 lines are in the condition they are in today due to the government and lessees amending the Performance Standards as per s15.3 of the Lease Agreement.
"We have not gone beyond continually presenting the facts about productivity merits of government investing to resolve the Tier 3 issue.
"Further, there appears to have been ongoing government ineptness in creating a playing field with levels which distorts investment between road and rail modes of transport."
Mr Trenorden added that the government continued to "play politics" with the Tier 3 argument which did nothing to address the issues of road safety whereby the Wheatbelt's road death toll was eight times the State road toll average.
He said Mr Buswell's decision also did nothing to address the issue of an inadequate road and rail network and overlooked increased farm productivity gains.
CBH general manager of operations Colin Tutt, said Tier 3 services were an important part of the Wheatbelt and it was good to know CBH had some certainty for the upcoming harvest, knowing it would be able to run its new trains on Tier 3 lines which would ensure getting grain to port in the most efficient manner.
He said CBH was pleased it now also had more time to negotiate a longer-term outcome by working through the possibilities.
But it still wasn't an ideal situation for CBH.
"CBH is committed to running trains across the Tier 3 network for the long-term," Mr Tutt said.
"We would like to achieve an outcome soon that provided more certainty for our growers for the long-term.
"The Tier 3 tracks certainly need an upgrade but CBH believes they can be managed and operated differently from the Tier 1 and Tier 2 tracks because the volume of grain on these lines is generally less."
