SA Rail Overview
The Essential Services Commission is the Regulator for South Australia's Intra-State Rail Access regime as set out in the Railways (Operations and Access) Act 1997.
The Commission assumed this role from March 2004. This role had previously been assigned to the Executive Director, Transport SA.
The South Australian Rail Access Regime applies to Railway Services as defined under the ROA Act. This covers the TransAdelaide broad gauge network within metropolitan Adelaide, the Genesee and Wyoming (GWA) lines in the Murray-Mallee, Mid-North and Eyre Peninsula, and the Great Southern Railway passenger terminal at Keswick.
The Railways (Operations and Access) Act 1997 assigns the following specific functions to the Commission:
monitoring and enforcing compliance with Part 3 (general rules for conduct of business) of the Act;
monitoring the costs of rail services under the Act;
making an application to the Supreme Court for appointment of an administrator where a rail operator becomes insolvent, ceases to provide railway services or fails to make effective use of the infrastructure of the State;
establishing pricing principles;
establishing requirements for information about access to rail services and determining the price to be charged for such information;
conciliation of access disputes and referral of disputes to arbitration;
fulfilling any other functions and powers conferred by regulation under the ROA Act.
In relation to this Act, the Commission is subject to the control and direction of the Minister for Transport.
The Commission has released an Information Kit, explaining the principal features of the Access Regime under the Act and communicating the Pricing Principles, Information Brochure Requirements and Reporting Requirements established by the Commission.
