A Rail Infrastructure Manager (RIM) of a private siding that is, or is to be, connected to another railway or private siding must be registered for each siding it intends to manage.
Under section 83 of the Rail Safety National Law (RSNL) a RIM of a private siding that is connected to or has access to a railway operated by an accredited rail transport operator (RTO) must be registered to operate that siding. A person may be a registered RIM for multiple private sidings under their registration.
However, an accredited RTO that already has private siding rail infrastructure included in its railway operations does not require registration.
Construction of new private sidings cannot occur until the siding is included in the scope of the RIM’s registration.
To apply for registration as a RIM of a private siding you must first contact ONRSR to discuss requirements via the Initiate Interest to Apply for Registration of a Private Siding Form - link provided below. An ONRSR representative will be in touch to discuss the nature and scope of operations within three (3) business days of submission of the form.
Following that discussion and confirmation of the intended railway operations an application form will be provided to formally start the process.
When assessing an application for registration under Section 86 of the RSNL, ONRSR needs to be satisfied that:
ONRSR’s decision as to whether the railway operations to be undertaken within a private siding are appropriate for the granting of a registration is based on the potential risks to safety. It is where the scale and complexity of the siding operations reaches the point where this expectation would be unreasonable that ONRSR’s decision is influenced.