The AustralAsia Railway Corporation (AARC) was established in 1997 by the

Government of the Northern Territory The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...

to build the

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

to Darwin section of the Adelaide-Darwin Railway. The

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

holds 50% of its board positions and voting rights. It owns some of the infrastructure of the Alice Springs to Darwin railway and the lease of the Tarcoola to Alice Springs railway from the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

, and leased (or subleased) them to FreightLink. In June 1999, it awarded the contract to build the Darwin to Alice Springs railway to the

Asia Pacific Transport Consortium The Asia Pacific Transport Consortium was established in 1999 to: Under a concession deed by the AustralAsia Railway Corporation, it was also contracted for performance of the project. The consortium performed all rail safety, marketing, o ...

(APTC) as a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer operation. The lease runs until 2054.Australasia Railway Project
AustralAsia Railway Corporation The Federal Government contributed $165 million from the Centenary of Federation Fund, the Northern Territory Government contributed $165 million and the South Australian Government contributed $150 million to the AARC for the construction of assets by APTC and FreightLink that were later leased for a peppercorn rental to FreightLink. In addition, the three governments contributed about $26 million each, a total of $79 million in further funding to support the APTC directly, by way of mezzanine debt financing (

subordinated debt In finance, subordinated debt (also known as subordinated loan, subordinated bond, subordinated debenture or junior debt) is debt which ranks after other debts if a company falls into liquidation or bankruptcy. Such debt is referred to as 'subordi ...

), equity and contingent equity .

References

External links

Official Website
Railway companies established in 1997 Railway infrastructure companies of Australia Rail transport in the Northern Territory Australian companies established in 1997 {{Australia-rail-transport-stub