THE NSW Government has given away 18 locomotives and 180 wagons worth millions of dollars to a giant grain company, just months before a federal inquiry is due to report on whether rail is the best way to transport the state's wheat.
GrainCorp, a publicly listed company, was given the trains at the end of May as part of a deal to keep railway lines operating, even though the Federal Government's $3 million NSW Grain Freight Review is yet to recommend the best way to move grain in this state.
The Minister for Transport, David Campbell, did not tell the public about the agreement, leaving it to GrainCorp to make an announcement to the stock exchange on May 29, the day it took possession of the trains.
Timothy Bush, a former Cowra Shire councillor who made a submission to the federal review, said: "The recommendations were supposed to help the NSW and federal governments make the decision. The largest part of the decision has already been made - to keep the trains running - and the minister has said nothing about it."
The review chairman, Des Powell, is finalising his report and would give it to Mr Campbell and the federal Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, a spokesman for the Canberra inquiry said.
GrainCorp, which has assets of $440 million including silos, mills and port terminals, has made the government deal as it faces prosecution by the RTA for alleged offences as a receiver of grain delivered by severely overloaded vehicles.
A spokesman for GrainCorp, David Ginns, would not comment on the Supreme Court action, but the corporation's 2007 annual report said it faced $18.2 million in fines and that it denied liability.
Mr Campbell did not respond to a Herald question about the value of the trains, but said the deal had secured a grain haulage operator to service the branch lines for a further five years after a transparent competitive process.
It did not pre-empt the federal review, which would identify the most sustainable, long-term solutions for moving grain efficiently, he said.
Mr Ginns said GrainCorp had not yet put a value on the trains, but their real worth was in having them run by a capable organisation, rather than being lost to the industry.
The agreement follows a push by farmers' groups and the Greens to keep grain lines open, averting any switch to road freight after the previous train operator, Pacific National, announced a withdrawal by the end of the financial year just gone.
However, just as rains have produced hope of a big crop, five councils around Cowra - which will spend $50,000 on a consultant to support the case for the trains to run - fear the train deal will lead to wheat from their area being pushed onto trucks. GrainCorp has given no undertaking it will operate five lines in the area that the NSW Government has marked for closure.
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