Toll fee for rail network use to be revealed

1.00pm

The Government looks set to reveal next week what Australian transport firm Toll Holdings will pay for sole use of the rail network, it was reported today.

The "access fee" was a critical part of a deal Toll and the Crown completed on June 30 to bring the rail network back under Crown ownership.

Toll would pay a yearly fee to run a freight business on the rail network.

Toll controls the rail freight business of Tranz Rail after securing 84 per cent of the company last year.

Toll's big rail customers have been lobbying the Government for public release of the agreement, the Dominion Post reported.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen supports that and has been seeking Toll's consent.

Under the deal, taxpayers were stumping up $200 million over four years to spend on the network.

Recovery of the $200 million would not be included in the access fee Toll pays.

Rail Freight Action spokesman Paul Harper said the Government had assured the group it intended to make public the agreement.

The group had argued for open access to the tracks for more than one operator but the Government agreed to sole access for Toll provided freight did not fall below certain levels.

Buying back the network was part of a government transport policy to encourage freight on to rail.

Treasury official Chris Mackenzie said that by Friday officials expected to have a response from Toll about releasing the agreement.

Mr Mackenzie was not sure what Toll could achieve by not consenting, because details of the agreement would still appear in the annual report of Railways Corporation, which will be running the rail network operation, to Parliament each year.

If Toll did not agree to the release, Mr Mackenzie said, "we may still go ahead and release it".

"I do not think the Government will withhold it just because Toll didn't want to," he said.

"Michael (Cullen) would be quite happy for it to go public now. Out of courtesy we have talked to Toll... Michael's view last week is there was no reason to withhold it."

Lawyers were examining the deal and might suggest amendments, which would have to be put to Dr Cullen.

The access fee would be a single payment this year and next, but would become more route-specific year by year, Mr Mackenzie said.

The Treasury took advice on a number of models for access fees and had looked at how access was charged by national grid operator Transpower.

Mr Harper said the group would "make a lot of noise" if critical information in the agreement was taken out.

The access fee was a great interest because it would make up part of the freight rate Toll charged big customers such as Solid Energy, Carter Holt Harvey and Fonterra.

- NZPA