The Economic Regulation Authority is considering the Public Transport Authority’s (PTA) proposed depreciated optimised replacement cost (DORC) for its urban rail network in Western Australia, and its proposed depreciation schedule to be applied when updating the regulatory asset base.
The process of approving or determining the depreciated optimised replacement costs and the depreciation schedule for the eight route sections comprising the PTA’s network is governed by the Railways (Access) Code 2000.
The depreciated optimised replacement cost of a route section approved or determined by the ERA becomes the initial regulatory asset base of that route section, and is used to inform any future negotiations for access to the network.
The depreciation schedule sets out the profile of annual depreciation of the regulatory asset bases, relying on the ERA’s determination on the PTA’s initial regulatory asset base and the remaining life of assets.
The ERA published PTA’s statement of depreciated optimised replacement cost and depreciation schedule on 7 August 2025, and invited submissions from stakeholders.
We received one submission from the CBH Group and is published below.
The draft decision published below sets out the ERA’s reasoning and seeks further information from interested parties to inform the ERA’s final determinations.