Assessing the Costs of a Haulage Regime

Abstract

Third-party access to rail infrastructure in Western Australia's Pilbara region is a contentious issue due to concerns about how third-party trains might impact on incumbents' operations. A recent State Government proposal involves a haulage regime, rather than access by third-party trains. This article explores the ramifications of haulage by examining voluntary haulage in the United States. It finds, with some caveats, that haulage seems more appropriate to the Pilbara situation than access.