The Australian Competition Tribunal ruled in February that Rio Tinto is not required to open its Hamersley and Robe rail lines in Western Australia to third-party users.
Rio Tinto Iron Ore acting Chief Executive Paul Shannon said, “This is great news. Rio Tinto runs a highly efficient railway that is fully integrated with our port and mine operations. This would be severely hindered if third parties were allowed to run trains on our rail network, not to mention the knock-on negative effect on the Western Australian and national economies from creating such inefficiencies.”
Fortescue Metals Group expressed disappointment at the decision but said it will not affect its current iron ore operations or expansion plans, which utilize the company’s existing, fully-owned rail infrastructure.
