• 10-year term providing long-term certainty
• Introduction of a Throughput Payment to incentivize network performance
• Five-year rolling access agreements to enhance customer rail capacity planning

Aurizon announces that with customer support, a proposed revised Access Undertaking for the Central Queensland Coal Network (CQCN) is to be lodged with the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) today. The draft undertaking follows months of constructive negotiation and will apply from 1 July 2027 until 30 June 2037, providing all users and Aurizon Network with long-term certainty. The agreement is to extend and amend the current Undertaking and will be known as the 2025 UT5 Draft Amending Access Undertaking (UT5+). The revenue uplift received by Aurizon Network is balanced by an incentive for operational performance and efficiency, primarily with a volume-linked Throughput Payment. Key customer benefits include a 10-year term, introduction of a Throughput Payment, five-year rolling access agreements, new streamlined transfer provisions, establishment of a Continuous Improvement Group, retention of the collaborative Maintenance and Renewals Strategies and Budget process, and customer oversight for material Network procurement contracts. Aurizon benefits include an uplift in revenue compared to UT5, updated WACC parameters, the Throughput Payment partially replacing the negotiated WACC uplift, bring-forward of future cashflows with changes to depreciation, and retention of inflation and revenue protection mechanisms.

The proposed undertaking is expected to deliver an uplift in revenue compared to the current UT5 methodology, including a rebased WACC and the introduction of a volume-linked Throughput Payment, based on annual tonnage of 221mt (as per FY2026 Regulatory Assumption) with no performance deductions.