The AustralAsia Railway Corporation (AARC) was established in 1997 by the
Government of the Northern Territory 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 (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), 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