The ruling is part of a long running battle by Fortescue (fmg.ASX:Quote,News) access parts of BHP Billiton-managed railway lines in northern Western Australia.
Fortescue and smaller iron ore companies want access to BHP Billiton (bhp.ASX:Quote,News) and Rio Tinto (rio.ASX:Quote,News) owned railways to better export the commodity amid rising prices for the product.
The National Competition Council has issued a draft recommendation, after a 2004 application by Fortescue, declaring parts of the railways are a service under the Trade Practices Act.
That means a party seeking access to the service has a right to negotiate access through the Australian Competition Tribunal.
BHP has consistently argued the railways are an integral part of its production process and therefore should not be accessed by third parties - taking it to the High Court.
Today the High Court unanimously dismissed BHP Billiton's appeals.
A production process was the creation or manufacture by a series of operations of some marketable commodity, the court said.
"Although BHP Billiton used the track and associated infrastructure as part of its production process, it did not follow that use by Fortescue of that track and infrastructure would be excluded from the definition of "service'' as being "the use of a production process'', the high court ruling said.
"Fortescue's proposed use of the railway lines did not constitute use of BHP Billiton's production process.''
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