A WA parliamentary question on notice regarding subsidies for various passenger rail services in Western Australia, including existing lines and the future Mandurah line. The response provides subsidy figures for some lines but cites difficulties in isolating costs for others within the metropolitan rail system.

AnsweredQoN 2928Legislative Assembly
Asked
21 November 2007
Portfolio
Planning and Infrastructure

QuestionView source ↗

(a) commuter service; and
(b) tourist transport service?
(2) I ask the Minister what was the actual amount of any subsidy required to be paid in the 2006–2007 financial year for each:
(a) AvonLink passenger;
(b) Prospector passenger;
(c) Perth to Armadale passenger;
(d) Australind passenger; and
(e) Perth to Joondalup passenger?
(3) I also ask what is the expected amount of any subsidy, per passenger, required to be paid in the first full year of operation of the Perth to Mandurah Rail Link?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
25 February 2008
Responded by
Minister for Planning and Infrastructure
Response time
96 days
(1)
(a-b) Future development of the AvonLink and MerredinLink train services is dependant on demand. The demand for both these services is very low and hence there is no justification for the provision of additional services at this time.
The services are defined as "public transport services" which serve both the commuter and tourism markets.
The provision of the "Spring in the Avon Valley" services over the last two years has been undertaken by Transwa as a means of promoting the AvonLink train service.
(2)
(a) The average subsidy provided for a AvonLink passenger in 2006/07 was $103.81 (based on total costs including capital charges) or alternatively $60.78 (based on operating costs only).
(b) The average subsidy provided for a Prospector passenger in 2006/07 was $138.56 (based on total costs including capital charges) or alternatively $85.75 (based on operating costs only).
(c) The average subsidy provided for a urban rail passenger (ie - a rail passenger on the Perth metropolitan train system) cannot sensibly be broken down by individual train line. A large proportion of the costs are "global" in nature, and it would not be practical or genuine to try and apportion these costs on a line basis. The average subsidy per passenger on the Transperth urban rail passenger in 2006/07 was $7.94 (if total costs are included and measured against total revenue and total boardings), or alternatively a subsidy of $2.96 per passenger (if assessed only against operating costs measured against total revenue and total boardings).
(d) The average subsidy provided for a Australind passenger in 2006/07 was $60.70 (based on total costs including capital charges) or alternatively $39.30 (based on operating costs only).
(e) See response to part (c)
(3) For the reasons provided in answer to questions 2c and 2e above, the costs associated with an individual train line on the metropolitan system cannot be provided, as many costs accrue on a system basis. When the Mandurah line opens, the level of subsidy for a urban rail passenger is not anticipated to move markedly from the figures provided in part 2c.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more