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Rail Safety

Mission Statement

To develop, implement, monitor and continuously improve a rail safety administration and regulation regime promoting safe railway ownership and operations in the Territory.

National Reform

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to establish a single national Rail Safety Regulator at its meeting in December 2009. The Regulator will be hosted by South Australia.

It is expected the Regulator will be established and functioning from 2013.  COAG agreed to resolve a number of policy, legislation, governance and funding issues in the implementation stage, including the role of the Territory and State Ministers.

History of Rail Safety in the NT

Traditionally, railways were mostly owned by States. The ownership also included responsibility for rail safety regulation and administration.

With the commercialisation in the 90’s of the railway industry, it was not possible to retain the previous system of rail safety regulation.

The commercialisation has resulted in significant developments, in particular:

  • Introduction of third party access which has led in many cases to separation of track ownership from train operations;
  • A number of new rail owners and operators have emerged;
  • Across-border operation has become common;
  • Various important functions, for example track maintenance, have been contracted out to specialised organisations;
  • Increased competition among the railway operators as well as between the road and the rail.

As a result, the traditional picture of state railways looking after their local affairs within well-defined boundaries has changed dramatically.

In 1998, the Northern Territory Government became a signatory to the InterGovernmental Agreement on Rail Safety. This was followed by the proclamation of the NT Rail Safety Act, the cornerstone of the NT rail safety regulatory system.

The Rail Safety Unit was created in February 1999 as a response to the rapidly changing regulatory environment in Australia. The unit is a part of the Transport Safety Division and reports to the Director, Transport Safety.