Rio Tinto wins case to block off access to rail

MELBOURNE: The world’s second largest iron ore miner, Rio Tinto, has tightened its already firm grip over the Pilbara region by winning a ruling that blocks other miners from using its rail lines.
Rio released a statement yesterday saying that the Australian Competition Tribunal had ruled that it did not have to open Rio’s 1,400km of rail lines in Western Australia’s Pilbara to other miners wanting to transport iron ore.
The decision applies to Rio’s main Hamersley and Robe rail lines.
Fortescue Metals, Australia’s third largest iron ore miner, won a High Court case last September that forced the tribunal to review its earlier decision in favour of Rio and BHP Billiton.
Fortescue has been fighting the mining giants for access to their iron ore rail lines for nearly eight years and sold third-party access to its own rail system.
Fortescue chief executive Nev Power said it was regrettable that the tribunal did not see the merits of providing third-party access to enhance competition and deliver greater productivity and efficiency benefits.
The business community has been calling for more government investment in infrastructure to tackle export bottlenecks that affect productivity and costs.
Rio Tinto Iron Ore acting chief executive Paul Shannon argued that allowing third parties to run trains on its network would create inefficiencies. 
“Rio Tinto runs a highly efficient railway that is fully integrated with our port and mine operations,” he said in a statement. –  AAP