AGY-2037 | Rail Services Australia

Full description

Rail Services Australia was established on 1 July 1998 when the Railway Services Authority was corporatised by the Transport Administration Amendment (Railway Services Authority Corporatisation) Act, No. 8, 1998. (1) This Act amended the Transport Administration Act 1988, No. 109, to allow for the establishment of the State Owned Corporation. Rail Services Australia assumed the assets, liabilities, and work in progress of the former Railway Services Authority. Rail Services Australia constructs and maintains rail infrastructure including track, signals, overhead wiring structures, bridges, and platforms. Other areas of business include locomotive and rollingstock maintenance, project management, technical services, and consulting services. (2) Rail Services Australia was described soon after its establishment as "a business in transition, making a complex change from a disparate group of internal suppliers of construction and maintenance services to a cohesive, competitive asset management contractor." (3) As a State Owned Corporation, Rail Services Australia competes in the open market for work that had previously been guaranteed. The Corporation was restructured and includes a Board with wide business experience to align it with the commercial environment in which it operates. (4) Although the Railway Services Authority operated outside NSW, its’ principal function was to act as a safe and reliable supplier of goods and provider of services to the rail industry in NSW. Under the Transport Administration Amendment (Railway Services Authority Corporatisation) Act, the principal function of Rail Services Australia was to act as a supplier and provider to the rail industry generally, not just NSW. This greatly expanded business opportunities for the Corporation and its activities extended not only interstate but overseas including the tendering for a joint venture in Hong Kong in 1998. Rail Services Australia and the Rail Access Corporation were amalgamated on 1 January 2001 to form the Rail Infrastructure Corporation. Rail Services Australia remained a Division of the Rail Infrastructure Corporation. FOOTNOTES 1. Transport Administration Amendment (Railway Services Authority Corporatisation) Act, No. 8, 1998 2. Rail Services Australia’s web site 19 April 2001 3. loc. cit. 4. Rail Services Australia’s web site 19 April 2001