In 2004, the railway was purchased by Pacific National following the purchase of Tranz Rail by Toll Holdings, and the sale of Wisconsin Central's overseas investments as a result of that railroads takeover by Canadian National. In September 2005, Pacific National angered the Tasmanian State Government and the Australian Federal Government when it threatened to 'withdraw all services' unless the governments paid a $100 million subsidy. That was alarming, because a shut-down of all rail services would result in thousands more trucks on already busy roads.