The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) has welcomed strong rail funding in the 2026-27 Federal Budget, reflecting the social and economic benefits that rail investment delivers, even when economic conditions are constrained.

In freight, the ARA welcomed $1.75 billion in additional Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) funding to support the maintenance, upgrade, modernisation and resilience of the national freight network, as advocated for in the ARA’s pre-Budget submission earlier this year. This commitment will support a more productive freight system, delivering reduced service disruptions, improved climate resilience, lower operating costs and faster, more frequent services.

The ARA also welcomed $55 million for the new Transport Resilience and Capacity Kickstart (TRACK) pilot program to promote greater use of rail freight as part of the response to the fuel crisis. The ARA convened a workshop with industry and government stakeholders to discuss the rail industry’s role in responding to the fuel crisis in April, providing recommendations to the government for an incentive scheme for rail freight operators. The allocation will include the establishment of a coordinator within the ARTC to work with rail infrastructure managers on the movement of longer and heavier freight trains to maximise productivity and fuel savings.

The ARA also reaffirmed its support for the Inland Rail project as a critical part of Australia’s future freight needs. It is essential the completion of the route remains in focus as the Federal Government confirmed construction would not proceed north of Parkes at this time. The ARA will now engage with Government to identify what additional investment is required on the ARTC east coast network to address the impact of Inland Rail not being completed to Brisbane. Read more in our statement here.

In passenger rail, the ARA was pleased to see co-investment from federal and state governments, including an additional $3.8 billion for Victoria’s Suburban Rail Loop East, bringing the Federal Government’s total investment to $6 billion. An additional $76.4 million for the electrification of Victoria’s Melton Line was also included in the budget, as well as $50 million (in addition to $25 million each from the NSW and ACT governments) to upgrade the Sydney-Canberra rail corridor. The ARA was also pleased to see the funding for this key intercity route would also support the development of a business case to plan further network upgrades to support the adoption of ETCS standards and improve the interoperability of the network.

Further Budget investment announced on the night included:

  • High speed rail – Continued funding ($659.6 million over three years from 2025-26) for development works for the Newcastle-Sydney route
  • National Freight Data Hub – $1.9 million to continue efforts to standardise accessible freight data
  • Supply chain – $1 billion in interest free loans through the National Reconstruction Fund’s Economic Resilience Program to provide cashflow relief to manufacturing and logistics businesses, including freight businesses, in critical supply chains.

Read more about the Budget in these resources: