The ACCC regulates the Australian Rail Track Corporation’s Hunter Valley rail network through a voluntary access undertaking.
The rail network is in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales and is mainly used to transport coal.
What the ACCC does
We regulate the Hunter Valley rail network through a voluntary access undertaking.
We carry out a compliance process every year to assess recovery of revenue.
What the ACCC can't do
We don’t set the prices or provide access to the rail network.
We don’t direct the Australian Rail Track Corporation.
We don’t set technical standards for the rail industry.
On this page
About the Hunter Valley rail network
The network is mainly used to transport coal
The Hunter Valley rail network is in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales. The full title of the undertaking document is the Hunter Valley Coal Network Access Undertaking.
The network is mainly used to transport coal:
from mines in the Hunter Valley region to the Port of Newcastle for export
to domestic customers, such as power stations.
It is also used by non-coal traffic, including:
general and bulk freight services, such as grain
passenger services.
The provider is the Australian Rail Track Corporation
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) manages the Hunter Valley rail network.
It is a rail infrastructure provider that:
was formed out of a 1997 inter-governmental agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia and the states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia
is vertically separated, providing ‘below-rail’ services, such as the rail track infrastructure, but not ‘above-rail’ services, such as haulage
provides a single contact for parties wanting to run trains on the Interstate rail network and the Hunter Valley rail network in New South Wales.
Hunter Valley rail network regulation
About the access undertaking and rail network regulation
Access for coal producers and customers to the Australian Rail Track Corporation’s Hunter Valley rail network is regulated through a voluntary access undertaking.
Access undertakings allow infrastructure owners and operators to give other parties access to their infrastructure services. Undertakings are one method to facilitate access to services under the national access regime and are described in Part IIIA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
The access undertaking covers the terms and conditions of access to the Hunter Valley rail network.
Current version of the access undertaking
We accepted Australian Rail Track Corporation’s access undertaking on 29 June 2011.
Since we accepted the first undertaking in 2011, we have accepted numerous variations to the undertaking.
There are currently no undertaking application projects.
Past undertaking application projects
Past applications to vary or extend the 2011 undertaking
This is a list of past projects considered by the ACCC. It includes applications submitted by the Australian Rail Track Corporation to vary or extend an existing Hunter Valley rail network access undertaking.
On 30 March 2021, the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) submitted a new variation application for the current Hunter Valley Coal Network Access Undertaking. The ACCC published its Final Decision to consent to ARTC's 30 March variation application on 2 June 2021.
On 23 December 2020, the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) applied to the ACCC to vary the Hunter Valley Coal Network Access Undertaking. On 30 March 2021, ARTC withdrew its 23 December 2020 variation application and submitted a new variation application.
On 20 May 2016, ARTC applied to the ACCC to vary its 2011 Hunter Valley Access Undertaking to extend the term of the undertaking by six months to 31 December 2016.
On 9 December 2016, ARTC submitted the 2017 Hunter Valley Access Undertaking to the ACCC for assessment under Part IIIA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
On 23 December 2015, ARTC submitted an access undertaking to the ACCC for assessment pursuant to Part IIIA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (the Act). The access undertaking is in relation to the provision of access to the Hunter Valley Rail Network operated by ARTC in New South Wales.
On 23 April 2009, ARTC lodged an access undertaking application for the Hunter Valley Rail Network with the ACCC for assessment.
Annual compliance assessment
About the annual compliance process
The Hunter Valley rail network access undertaking requires the Australian Rail Track Corporation to submit documents to the ACCC for a compliance process every year.
The ACCC assesses whether:
the Australian Rail Track Corporation has complied with the financial model and pricing principles specified in the undertaking
there has been any under or over recovery of revenue from users that needs reconciling.
The compliance process is carried out under section 4.10 and Schedule G of the Hunter Valley Coal Network Access Undertaking 2011.
The 2011 Hunter Valley Coal Network Access Undertaking (HVAU) requires the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to submit documentation to the ACCC for the purpose of an annual compliance assessment. The 2022 annual compliance assessment will be carried out in accordance with Schedule J of version 8 of the HVAU.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation has provided its indicative Constrained Coal Customer Unders and Overs Estimate and True-Up Test Audit report for 2021, ahead of its formal annual compliance submission (expected in late 2022).
On 10 August 2021, the ACCC released a final determination for the period 1 January to 31 December 2018. The ACCC's final determination is that ARTC's revised submission from 17 June 2021 is in accordance with all requirements under the HVAU. The submitted true-up test audit is also in accordance with HVAU requirements.
The 2011 Hunter Valley Coal Network Access Undertaking (2011 HVAU) requires the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to submit documentation to the ACCC for the purposes of an annual compliance assessment.
The 2011 Hunter Valley Access Undertaking requires Australian Rail Track Corporation to submit documentation to the ACCC for the purposes of an annual compliance assessment.
The 2011 Hunter Valley Access Undertaking (2011 HVAU) requires ARTC to submit documentation to the ACCC for the purposes of an annual compliance assessment.
The accepted Hunter Valley Access Undertaking requires ARTC to submit documentation to the ACCC for the purposes of an annual compliance assessment. Section 4.10 and Schedule G of the undertaking requires the ACCC to determine whether ARTC has complied with the financial model and pricing principles specified in the undertaking and whether there has been any under or over recovery of revenue from users that needs to be reconciled.
The Hunter Valley Access Undertaking (HVAU) accepted by the ACCC on 29 June 2011 requires ARTC to submit documentation for the purposes of an annual compliance assessment conducted by the ACCC.
The ACCC carried out a compliance assessment and determined that ARTC has complied with pricing principles specified in clause 4.10 of the undertaking for the period 1 July 2011 to 31 December 2011.
Other Hunter Valley rail network projects
The ACCC occasionally undertakes other ad-hoc projects relating to the Hunter Valley rail network, to assist with fulfilling its undertaking and compliance assessment obligations.
The 2011 Hunter Valley Coal Network Access Undertaking (HVAU) requires the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to send documents to the ACCC for an annual compliance assessment. As part of this assessment, we examine ARTC's operating costs, including overheads.
