Westrail was the name of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

’s public rail service between 1975 and 2000.

It had its origins in 1877 as the Department of Works and Railways. This became Western Australian Government Railways

Western Australian Government Railways

Western Australian Government Railways was most common name of the Western Australian government rail transport authority from 1890 to 1976. It is, in its current form, known as the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia....

 (WAGR) in 1890 — a name that persisted for almost a century. WAGR became Westrail in 1975 and continued to manage both passenger and freight rail services in Western Australia until 18 December 2000.

At this time, Westrail’s freight business was sold for A$585 million dollars to Australian Western Railroad

Australian Western Railroad

Australian Western Railroad is the name of the private entity that purchased the Westrail freight business from the State Government of Western Australia. The sale took place in the year 2000 for the price of A$585 million dollars. AWR is a subsidiary of the Australian Railroad Group....

 — a subsidiary of the Australian Railroad Group

Australian Railroad Group

Australian Railroad Group was one of Australia's largest private rail operators, operating across almost 10,000 kilometres of track and began operating in Western Australia on 17 December 2000 following its purchase of the Westrail freight business. It was acquired by QR National...

 (ARG). Westrail’s freight rail lines were leased to WestNet Rail

WestNet Rail

WestNet Rail is the operator of approximately 5000 kilometres of former WAGR railway track in Western Australia, leased from the State of Western Australia following the sale of Westrail in 2000....

 — another subsidiary of ARG. The public entity continues to own the track, but WestNet manages it under the terms of a 49-year lease.

The current name for the Western Australian railway authority is the Public Transport Authority.