Aurizon ( ) is a freight rail transport company in Australia, formerly named QR National. it was the world’s largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port.
Formerly a
Queensland Government
The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...
-owned company, it was privatised and floated on the
ASX in November 2010. The company was originally established in 200405 when the coal, bulk, and container transport divisions from
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
were brought under one banner, as QR National. The new name, Aurizon, comes from the words Australia and Horizon according to the then-CEO Lance Hockridge.
On an average day, Aurizon moves more than of coal, iron ore and other minerals, as well as agricultural products and general freight across the nation.
The company transports more than 250 million tonnes of Australian commodities each year, with operations in five
Australian states
The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing p ...
. Aurizon also manages the
Central Queensland
Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Capricorn Coas ...
coal network that links mines to coal ports at
Bowen,
Gladstone and
Mackay Mackay may refer to:
*Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives
Mackay may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Mackay Region, a local government area
** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region
*** Mackay Airpor ...
, and is the largest haulier of iron ore outside the
Pilbara
The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a g ...
.
In February 2019, after permission from the
Federal Court, Aurizon's intermodal and trucking business was acquired by
Linfox
Linfox is an Australian transport and logistics and supply chain business founded in 1956 by Lindsay Fox.
History
Linfox was established in 1956 by Lindsay Fox as Lindsay Fox Cartage with one truck in Melbourne. In 1958, a contract with Schwep ...
for
A$7.3 million. Their leased
LDP class locomotives were returned to Progress Rail,
SCT Logistics
SCT Logistics is an Australian interstate transport company operating rail and road haulage, with facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Parkes, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
History
SCT Logistics was founded in 1974 as Specialised Container Tra ...
now operate former Aurizon routes, such as Perth-Melbourne and Melbourne-Brisbane.
History
The QR National brand was established in the 2004/05 financial year when
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
's coal, bulk and containerised business units were brought under one banner.
It also incorporated subsidiaries
Interail
Interail was an Australian rail freight operator owned by QR National. In June 2011 it ceased trading as a separate brand, and became part of QR National (now known as Aurizon).
Northern Rivers Railroad
Northern Rivers Railroad was establish ...
, which had been acquired in March 2002 and operated services in New South Wales, and logistics company
CRT Group
CRT Group is an intermodal transport company in Australia. It was founded in 1954 as Colin Rees Transport, a taxi truck company in Sydney. In 1981 it became known as the CRT Group, and by the time of its acquisition by QR National in June 2005 ...
, for which QR National already provided line haulage and purchased outright in June 2005.
In June 2006, QR National acquired
Australian Railroad Group
Australian Railroad Group (ARG) was an Australian rail freight operator. It began operations in Western Australia on 17 December 2000 following its purchase of the Westrail freight business. It was purchased by QR National in June 2006. The mai ...
(ARG) which had operations in
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
and
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. ARG remained a separate subsidiary operation until it was rebranded as QR National in July 2011.
In Queensland, the major traffic is coal, both for export and domestic power generation. In 2005, QR National commenced running export coal services in the
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
Hunter Valley
The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and ...
and by November 2007, the QR National network covered the entire mainland (except the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
) with the operation of their first
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
to
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
intermodal container service. In August 2008, QR National took over the operation of Melbourne -
Horsham container service for Wimmera Container Line, after
Pacific National
Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses.
History
In February 2002, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Federal, New South Wales and Victorian Governments) were combined with Freig ...
withdrew its service.
Following a vote by its shareholders, QR National was rebranded as Aurizon in December 2012.
In February 2022, Aurizon commenced a five-year contract to haul mineral sands from
Broken Hill to
Kwinana for
Tronox
Tronox Limited is an American worldwide chemical company involved in the titanium products industry with approximately 6,500 employees. Following its acquisition of the mineral sands business formerly belonging to South Africa's Exxaro Resources ...
, to be extended 320 km east to
Ivanhoe, where a new loading facility has been constructed.
In October 2021, Aurizon agreed terms to purchase
One Rail Australia
One Rail Australia is an Australian rail freight operator company. Founded by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. in 1997 as Australian Southern Railroad, and later renamed Genesee & Wyoming Australia, it was renamed One Rail Australia in February 2020 af ...
(ORA). The transaction was approved by the
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Trad ...
with a requirement to dispose of ORA's
Hunter Valley coal haulage and Queensland coal haulage business within an agreed timeframe to maintain competition levels.
The sale was completed on 29 July 2022. Aurizon took over ORA's South Australian and Northern Territory operations the following day.
In December 2022 Aurizon agreed terms with Magnetic Rail Group, a 50:50
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...
between M Infrastructure Group and PT Asian Bulk Logistics to purchase
East Coast Rail. Subject to being granted regulatory approval, the transaction is scheduled to be completed in early 2023.
Public float
In June 2009, the Queensland Government announced the ''Renewing Queensland Plan'', with
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
's commercial activities to be separated from the Government's core passenger service responsibilities, formed into a new company named QR National Limited and privatised.
The company was split into two from July 2010 with QR National taking the coal business in Queensland and New South Wales, regional freight business in Queensland, bulk mineral and grain haulage in Queensland and Western Australia, and containerised freight between Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
QR National received a 99-year lease over the 2,300 km Queensland coal network:
* Blackwater system based around the
Port of Gladstone
The Port of Gladstone is Queensland's largest multi-commodity port and the fifth largest multi-commodity port in Australia. It is the world's fourth largest coal exporting terminal. It is within the locality of Callemondah in Gladstone in Centr ...
* Goonyella system based around the Port of Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay
* Moura line to the
Port of Gladstone
The Port of Gladstone is Queensland's largest multi-commodity port and the fifth largest multi-commodity port in Australia. It is the world's fourth largest coal exporting terminal. It is within the locality of Callemondah in Gladstone in Centr ...
* Newlands line to
Port of Abbot Point
It is responsible for the maintenance of these lines.
The rollingstock workshops at
Redbank Redbank may refer to:
Places
;In Australia
*Redbank, Queensland, a suburb in Ipswich
*Redbank, Victoria
*Redbanks, South Australia
;In the United States
*Redbank Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania
*Redbank Township, Clarion County, Pennsylv ...
,
Rockhampton and
Townsville
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
were also included.
QR National was floated in November 2010. From July 2011 all subsidiary operations were rebranded as QR National and then rebranded again to Aurizon in 2012.
Current fleet
Details of Aurizon's current fleet are as follows:
Former fleet
Details of Aurizon's former fleet are as follows:
Queensland coal networks
Blackwater
The Blackwater coal network is situated in Central Queensland. This networks runs from the dual ports of Clinton Coal (Gladstone Port Authority operated) and Barney Point (BMA operated) to the mines in the southern section of the
Bowen Basin
The Bowen Basin contains the largest coal reserves in Australia. This major coal-producing region contains one of the world's largest deposits of bituminous coal. The Basin contains much of the known Permian coal resources in Queensland includ ...
coal area. This rail network transports coal from
Gregory coal mine, Oaky Creek Mine,
German Creek coal mine
The German Creek Coal Mine is an underground coal mine 25 kilometres south west of Middlemount in Central Queensland, Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 248 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserv ...
,
Jellinbah coal mine, Lake Vermont Mine, Yarrabee Mine,
Curragh coal mine
The Curragh Coal Mine is an open-cut, coal mine located 30 km north of Blackwater in Central Queensland, Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 88 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Asia and ...
, Boorgoon Mine, Kinrola Mine,
Rolleston coal mine, Cook Colliery,
Ensham Mine,
Kestrel coal mine
The Kestrel Coal Mine is an underground coal mine located in the Bowen Basin at Crinum, 51 km northeast of Emerald in Central Queensland, Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 158 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the ...
and Minerva Mines. Both the Blackwater and Goonyella coal networks are linked at Gregory Mine. At different times during the year coal may be transported from one network to the other depending on coal demand, coal blending requirements or due to network disruptions.
In 1985, the network was electrified with a 25 kV overhead traction system. The network has been extended on several occasions as more mines come online. Two recent new mines were not initially electrified. These are Rolleston and Minerva Mines. The cost involved for the electrification of these two mines was considered too high as they are a considerable distance to join onto the current electrified network. However the electrification of the rail to Rolleston Mine was completed in December 2014. The rail to Minerva Mine is not electrified.
There are both export and domestic customers served by this network. Domestic customers include
Stanwell and
Gladstone power stations. There are two rail operations in the network, Aurizon being the biggest operator and Pacific National being a newcomer to the network.
Goonyella
The Goonyella coal network is situated in Central Queensland. Running from the dual ports of Hay Point (BMA operated) and Dalrymple Bay (BBI operated) to the mines in the northern section of the Bowen Basin coal area. This rail network transports coal from Gregory Mine,
Oaky Creek coal mine
The Oaky Creek Coal Mine is a coal mine located 17 kilometres east-southeast of Tieri in the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland, Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 288 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal re ...
,
German Creek coal mine
The German Creek Coal Mine is an underground coal mine 25 kilometres south west of Middlemount in Central Queensland, Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 248 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserv ...
,
Foxleigh coal mine
The Foxleigh Coal Mine is a coal mine in Mackenzie River, Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. It is within the Bowen Basin coal reserves of Central Queensland. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 102 million tonnes of coking coal, one ...
,
Norwich Park coal mine
The Norwich Park Coal Mine was an open cut coal mine located south-east of Dysart, in Central Queensland, Australia. In 2012, the mine closed for economic reasons not because it was exhausted.
In 2003, the mine had coal reserves amounting to ...
, Lake Vermont Mine,
Saraji coal mine
The Saraji Coal Mine is a coal mine located near Dysart in the Central Queensland region of Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 648 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Asia and the world. The m ...
,
Peak Downs Mine
Peak Downs Mine is a large open cut coking coal mine in Queensland located 31 km SSE of Moranbah. Peak Downs is one of seven mines in Bowen Basin owned by BHP Mitsubishi Alliance, Australia's largest coal miner and exporter. Productio ...
, Millennium Mine, Poitrel Mine, Moorvale Mine, Burton Downs Mine, Carborough Downs Mine, Issac Plains Mine,
Moranbah North coal mine
The Moranbah North Coal Mine is a coal mine in the Bowen Basin at Moranbah in Central Queensland, Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 261 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in the world. The mine has ...
,
Goonyella Riverside Mine
Goonyella Riverside Mine is a large open cut coking coal mine in the Bowen Basin. It is one of many coal mines in Central Queensland, Australia and is located at Moranbah about 30 km north of the township. The mine produced 12.4 mi ...
,
Hail Creek coal mine
The Hail Creek Coal Mine is a coal mine located within the Bowen Basin at Hail Creek in Central Queensland, Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 970 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Asia and the w ...
, Clermont Mine, Riverside Mine,
North Goonyella coal mine,
South Walker Creek coal mine, and
Blair Athol coal mine. Both the Goonyella and Blackwater coal networks are linked at Gregory Mine. At different times during the year, coal may be transported from one network to the other depending on coal demand, coal blending requirements or due to network disruptions.
In 1985, the network was electrified with a 25 kV overhead traction system. The network has been extended on several occasions as more mines come online. With each extension the electrified network has also been extended to accommodate the new mines. This line serves Anglo American Metallurgical Coal,
BHP Mitsubishi Alliance
The BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) is an Australian coal mining company operating in Central Queensland. The largest coal producer in Australia, it is a joint venture with BHP and Mitsubishi each owning 50%. It was established in 2001.
The BMA ...
(BMA) Jellinbah Resources, Peabody Energy Australia, Rio Tinto Coal Australia, Vale Australia, Bowen Central Coal, Xstrata Coal Queensland, McCarthur Coal.
There are two rail operations in the network, Aurizon being the biggest operator and Pacific National being a newcomer to the network.
Xstrata has bought a number of locomotives and assures a part of its coal freight independently.
There is actually a project for the "Norther Missing Line" GAP (Goonyella to Abbot Point) railway whose objective is to link the Goonyella line to the Abbot Point Coal Terminal. With growing orders from Asian countries (mostly China & India who have huge energetic needs), the GAP is a vital project as Abbot Point has the advantage of being 2–3 days closer to Asia than other ports, reducing tonnage price. There has been no press release regarding the electrification of this line.
Moura
The Moura coal network is situated in Central Queensland. This networks runs from the dual ports of Clinton Coal (Gladstone Port Authority operated) and Barney Point (BMA operated) to the mines in the southern section of the Bowen Basin coal area. This rail network transports coal from Moura Mine and Boundary Hill Mine.
Newlands
The Newlands coal network is situated in Central Queensland. This networks runs from the Abbott Point to the mines in the northern section of the Bowen Basin coal area. This rail network transports coal from
Newlands coal mine
The Newlands Coal Mine is a coal mine located in the north of the Bowen Basin at Newlands about 28 km northwest of Glenden in North Queensland, Australia.
The mine has coal reserves amounting to 413 million tonnes of low ash steamin ...
, Sonoma Mine and
Collinsville coal mine
The Collinsville Coal Mine is a coal mine located in Springlands and Collinsville in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. The open-cut mine lies in the northern Bowen Basin. Collinsville produces coking and steaming coal for both dome ...
.
West Moreton
The West Moreton coal network is situated in Southern Queensland. This networks utilizes part of QR's Western Railway Line. This rail network transports coal from New Acland coal mine (which is loaded at
Jondaryan, 17 kilometres (10.5 mi) west of
Oakey) and the Cameby Downs coal mine (which is loaded at
Columboola (24.3 kilometres (15 mi) north-east of
Miles) to the
Port of Brisbane
Port of Brisbane is the shipping port and coastal suburb of the City of Brisbane, on the east coast of Queensland, Australia. In the , Port of Brisbane had no residents living in the suburb. The port is the largest in the state of Queensland.
...
. Coal was also loaded from the Wilkie Creek coal mine until 2013 and was loaded at
Macalister Macalister, MacAlister, MacAllister and their variants are forms of a Gaelic surname which means 'son of Alisdair'. The name originated in Scotland and belonged to a branch of the Clan Donald; they became an independent clan in 1493. From about the ...
(27.1 kilometres (16.8 mi) west of
Dalby)
Price regulation
As Aurizon's infrastructure is a monopoly, it is subject to regulation by government organisations such as the
Queensland Competition Authority
The Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) is an independent statutory authority that promotes competition as the basis for enhancing efficiency and growth in the Queensland economy. It was established by the Government of Queensland in 1997.
...
. Aurizon has disagreed with the QCA concerning the price that it should be allowed to charge its clients, for example when the QCA used a lower
weighted average cost of capital
The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. The WACC is commonly referred to as the firm's cost of capital. Importantly, it is dictated by t ...
that does not account for the risk that clean energy poses to fossil fuel.
References
{{S&P/ASX 50
Interstate rail in Australia
Privatisation in Australia
Freight railway companies of Australia
Railway companies established in 2004
Railway infrastructure companies of Australia
Transport in Queensland
Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange
Australian companies established in 2004
Companies based in Brisbane