Australasia – Page 27
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NewsSerco to sell Great Southern Rail
AUSTRALIA: Serco Group plc has agreed to sell its Great Southern Rail business to Sydney-based private equity firm Allegro Funds for an enterprise value and cash consideration of £2·5m. GSR operates tourist-focused passenger services including The Ghan, Indian Pacific and Overland, and Serco said a review undertaken last year ...
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NewsGenesee & Wyoming completes Freightliner acquisition
INTERNATIONAL: Genesee & Wyoming Inc announced on March 25 that it had completed the acquisition of 94% of Freightliner Group Ltd for £492m, plus the assumption of £19m of net debt and capitalised leases. Freightliner’s management team has retained a 6% interest which G&W expects to acquire by mid-2020. In ...
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NewsFirst Roy Hill locomotives arrive in the Pilbara
AUSTRALIA: The first of 21 GE Evolution Series locomotives ordered for the Roy Hill Iron Ore Project was named ‘Ginny’ by Roy Hill Holdings Chair Gina Rinehart in a ceremony at Port Hedland on March 23. GE and its local partner UGL Ltd have delivered 14 of the 21 locomotives ...
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NewsVictoria orders more X’Trapolis EMUs
AUSTRALIA: The government of Victoria announced an order for a further five six-car Alstom X’Trapolis electric multiple-units on March 3. The first is expected to enter service by the end of 2016. The government said the order would plug a critical short-term gap in train availability in Melbourne and also ...
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NewsMetro Trains Melbourne to test vibration harvesters
AUSTRALIA: Metro Trains Melbourne is to test bearing and wheelset monitoring sensors supplied by Perpetuum which are powered by the train’s vibrations. Electrical energy is generated by using an oscillating magnet which induces a voltage in the coil. This powers the vibration and temperature sensors, which provide ...
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NewsG&W agrees to buy Freightliner Group
INTERNATIONAL: US short line holding group Genesee & Wyoming Inc announced an agreement to buy approximately 95% of the shares of Freightliner Group from Arcapita and other shareholders on February 25. The acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter of 2015. G&W will pay £490m in cash ...
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NewsMelbourne Metro authority to develop cross-city link
AUSTRALIA: Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews and Transport Minister Jacinta Allan announced on February 16 that a new authority is being established to plan Melbourne’s long-proposed cross-city rail tunnel. The Melbourne Metro Rail Authority has been allocated an initial budget of A$40m to develop proposals for the 9 km link, ...
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NewsSydney opens South West Rail Link
AUSTRALIA: New South Wales Premier Mike Baird and Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian officially opened the South West Rail Link on February 8, adding a further 11·4 km to the Sydney Trains suburban network. Under construction since 2011, the line diverges from the Sydney – Melbourne main line at Glenfield ...
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NewsDowner wins Pacific National loco maintenance deal
AUSTRALIA: Downer Rail is to provide locomotive maintenance and fleet management services to interstate rail freight operator Pacific National under an A$1bn contract announced on February 4. Covering more than 300 locomotives, the Locomotive Maintenance Agreement will run for 10 years. According to Downer EDI Ltd Chief Executive Officer Grant ...
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NewsVoestalpine acquires Sydney Trains' track component business
AUSTRALIA: Following a competitive tender, Sydney Trains has selected Voestalpine VAE Railway Systems to buy its Bathurst Rail Fabrication Centre track component and rail welding plant. ‘A 2012 review of the BRFC found it to be a solid business that would benefit from the innovation and technology of private ...
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NewsRailway Directory 2015
INTERNATIONAL: Marking its 120th year of publication, the latest edition of Railway Directory includes extensively-updated listings and contact details for almost 5 000 companies and organisations around the world. Covering every sector of the railway industry, it includes details of around 22 000 senior executives. Separate sections cover government and ...
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NewsWellington rail operating contract shortlist announced
NEW ZEALAND: Greater Wellington Regional Council announced the shortlisted bidders for a contract to operate the capital’s suburban rail services on December 22. The tender forms part of a programme to procure ‘performance-based partnering contracts’ for all of Wellington’s public transport services The shortlisted bidders are: A joint venture of ...
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NewsAdvanced Train Management System trial contract signed
AUSTRALIA: Live testing of the Advanced Train Management System is set to begin shortly, following the signing of a contract between infrastructure manager Australian Rail Track Corp and Lockheed Martin Australia. The two-year trial is to be undertaken between Whyalla and Port Augusta in South Australia. ATMA uses GPS ...
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NewsQueensland port and rail lease
AUSTRALIA: The Queensland government has announced plans to award a long-term lease to operate state-owned assets including the 1000 km Mount Isa line and the associated port of Port Townsville. The 1067 mm gauge single track line is a critical link between inland mining areas and the coast. The ...
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NewsNorth Galilee Basin Rail project management consultant appointed
AUSTRALIA: The Adani Mining subsidiary of Indian power and infrastructure group Adani has appointed Parsons Brinckerhoff as project management consultant for its A$16·5bn Carmichael integrated mine, port and railway project in Queensland. The coal development includes the construction of the North Galilee Basin Rail line, a privately-owned multi-user 388 km ...
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NewsInternational interest in NSW train contract
AUSTRALIA: Seven companies or groups have expressed interest in a A$2·8bn contract to supply and maintain a fleet of electric multiple-units for NSW TrainLink Intercity services, New South Wales Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian has announced. They are: Alstom Transport Australia;Bombardier Transportation Australia;CAF;Downer EDI Rail and CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles;Hyundai ...
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NewsButler extension opens in Perth
AUSTRALIA: The first scheduled service on the 7∙5 km extension of the Transperth network from Clarkson to Butler departed from Butler station at 11.51 on September 21. Built at a cost of A$221m, the Butler extension has opened ‘several months early and A$20m under budget’, according to the Government of ...
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NewsWabtec acquires signalling design company C2CE
AUSTRALIA: Wabtec Corp announced its acquisition of Perth-based C2CE on September 3. C2CE provides signalling design, project management and installation services, and is active in the industrial power distribution and communications sectors. It has 200 employees at offices in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Hong Kong, with annual sales of about ...
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NewsChallenging and frustrating year hits KiwiRail
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail has had a ‘challenging’ and ‘frustrating’ financial year, the national railway announced on August 29, adding that it is ‘cautious about the outlook for 2015’, particularly in the commodities sector. KiwiRail warned that it ‘cannot rely on revenue growth alone to get us to a sustainable position’. ...
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NewsMore Transperth multiple-units wanted
AUSTRALIA: Western Australia’s Public Transport Authority is to issue a request for information to gauge manufacturers’ interest in supplying at least 50 six-car electric multiple-units to double the size of the Transperth fleet. The additional EMUs would support anticipated ridership growth on the 1 067 mm gauge network, as well ...