It is reported that Fortescue Metals Group Ltd has argued in the Federal Court that BHP Billiton is neither the owner nor the operator of two railways in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

Mr O'Bryan lawyer of FMG’s submitted that “It wants access to the below rail service, or the actual railways and not the haulage service. The below rail service which Fortescue seeks is not the service that BHP admits to be part of its service. And they are two different services. BHP is neither the owner nor the operator of the below line service."

Fortescue contends the railways are owned by a number of joint ventures which have access agreements with BHP Billiton. BHP Billiton is the major partner in these joint ventures with other partners including Korean, Japanese and Chinese companies.

FMG is seeking access to the railways, used solely by BHP Billiton, to allow development of the Mindy Mindy iron ore deposit.

BHP Billiton argued that the railway lines are part of its production process and cannot be opened up to third party access. Since the beginning of the railway dispute, BHP Billiton has maintained that allowing other users onto its railways could jeopardize its ability to expand its iron ore production.