Watco Australia

Watco Australia is a rail haulage operator that was formed in 2010 to haul grain for the CBH Group in Western Australia. In 2019 it will commence operating in Queensland under a contract with GrainCorp. It is a subsidiary of Watco Companies.

Watco Australia
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryRail transport
Founded2010
Headquarters
Area served
Queensland
Western Australia
ServicesFreight & infrastructure train haulage
ParentWatco Companies
WebsiteWatco Companies

History

On 2009, CBH Group decided to put its rail grain haulage services out to tender for the first time.[1][2] This work had previously been performed by the Western Australian Government Railways, Australian Western Railroad and QR National (now Aurizon). CBH aimed that the amount of grain transported by rail rise from 50% to 70%.[1][3] CBH settled on a business model that saw it invest in new locomotives and grain wagons, with day-to-day operations contracted out.[4][5]

On 13 December 2010, CBH awarded Watco WA Rail a ten-year contract to operate services in the south of Western Australia.[6][7][8] To operate the services, CBH purchased 22 CBH class locomotives from MotivePower, Boise,[9] and 574 grain wagons from Bradken, Xuzhou.[10][11] The cost of this rolling stock was $175 million.[12]

Under the agreement, Watco is responsible for providing a comprehensive rail logistics planning service, including train planning and scheduling, tracking, maintenance, inventory control and crew management.[13] Watco operates and maintains the rolling stock, with ownership remaining with CBH.

The services link various CBH grain collection points in the wheatbelt with CBH terminal and port facilities in Albany, Geraldton and Kwinana.[14] CBH operate on the Arc Infrastructure managed open access network.[15] Watco transports an average of 10-12 million tonnes (368-441 million bushels) of grain from 192 country reception sites to CBH’s four export terminals.[12]

Although the contract officially commenced on 1 May 2012, Watco operated its first service on 30 March 2012.[16][17][18] Because of a delay in the delivery of the rolling stock, QR National continued to operate some 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge services until October 2012,[19] while to operate standard gauge services, locomotives were hired from Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia and SCT Logistics.[20] A further three locomotives were delivered in 2015 as compensation for late delivery of the original order.[21]

In 2016 Watco Australia was awarded an infrastructure train contract by Brookfield Rail to operate infrastructure trains with two 422 class locomotives purchased from CFCL Australia.[22][23] In December 2016, Watco acquired a majority shareholding in Intermodal Group, a Western Australian intermodal container transport group.[24][25] In July 2017, Watco took over the operation of the Forrestfield to Fremantle Harbour intermodal container service from SCT Logistics with flat wagons purchased from CFCL Australia.[26][27]

In late 2019, Watco Australia will commence operations in Queensland under a seven-year contract with GrainCorp. Eight locomotives from the National Railway Equipment Company and 128 wagons from China have been ordered.[28]

Fleet

Class Image Built Number Unit numbers Notes
HL 1969 1 HL203 Acquired from CFCL Australia November 2016
FL 1970 1 FL220 Acquired from CFCL Australia November 2016
G 1984 1 G511 Acquired from CFCL Australia 2017
DR 1971 2 DR1564, DR1565 Ex TasRail D class, originally WAGR D1564-65
WRA 2019 8 WRA001-WRA008 For GrainCorp contract in Queensland
2170 1982 5 2180, 2181, 2183, 2184, 2188 For GrainCorp contract in Queensland
Watco Australia WTR Class 2019 7 WTR001-WTR007 UGL Rail C44aci 7 units In 2019 UGL Rail, Broadmeadow Watco WA

Watco timeline in Western Australia

Watco as the operator for CBH railway operations is outlined in news stories following the agreement finalization on the first of November 2019, and the list below:[29] The agreement involved keeping the Miling railway line open, and all other tier 3 railways closed, and allowing CBH access until 2026.[30][31][32][33]

June 2012 - Operations by CBH/Watco commence
October 2013 - Merredin-Trayning and York-Quairading lines closed
December 2013 - CBH seeks access under Rail Access Code
January 2014 - CBH seeks injunction to gain pricing and costs information
June 2014 - tier 3 lines closed
October 2019 - Rail arbitrator agreement given to CBH and Arc
November 2019 - Agreement finalised.

References

  1. "Bidding underway for WA grain rail management". Rail Express. 11 November 2009. Archived from the original on 18 November 2009.
  2. Hunt, Karen (18 November 2009). "Tender plans for rail future". ABC News. Archived from the original on 24 February 2014.
  3. Lee, Tracy (30 August 2010). "Asciano in $700m grain bid". The Australian. Archived from the original on 3 September 2010.
  4. "Locomotives roll off production line and wagons hit the WA shore" (PDF). Pick of the Crop. CBH Group. March 2012. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2012.
  5. Hon Terry Redman MLA (24 August 2012). "Major new investment in WA grains industry". Agriculture & Food Minister (Press release). Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  6. "Watco wins CBH Group rail contract". Perth Now. 13 December 2010.
  7. Lee, Tracy (14 December 2010). "US group wins CBH contract from QR National". The Australian. Archived from the original on 19 January 2011.
  8. "Watco wins CBH grain rail contract". Rail Express. 15 December 2010. Archived from the original on 16 March 2011.
  9. Clark, Peter (2012). An Australian Locomotive Guide. Rosenberg Publishing. p. 312. ISBN 9781921719554.
  10. CBH Group (9 February 2012). "New wagons hit the Western Australian shore" (Press release).
  11. "WA grain industry takes ownership of first rail fleet". Rail Express. 29 August 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014.
  12. "Western Australia (WA)". Watco Companies.
  13. "CBH, Watco mark anniversary of moving grain on rail". World Grain. 3 April 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  14. "Receival Site Map" (PDF). CBH Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2014.
  15. Wilkie, Dan (31 October 2013). "ERA to mediate CBH, Brookfield rail talks". Western Australian Business News.
  16. "CBH, Watco rail agreement starts early". World Grain. 2 April 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  17. Hinkley, Bobbie (5 April 2012). "CBH grain wagons go to work early". Farm Weekly. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  18. "First train runs from Merredin". Merredin-Wheatbelt Mercury. 12 April 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  19. "Annual Report June 2013" (PDF). Aurizon. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 February 2014.
  20. "Annual Report". CBH Group. September 2012. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013.
  21. Thompson, Brad (23 December 2013). "CBH pushes market limits". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014 via Yahoo! News.
  22. "Watco Australia". Motive Power. No. 108. November 2016. p. 28.
  23. "Transfer of ownership of locomotives FL220 & HL203" (PDF). Australian Rail Track Corporation. 14 November 2016.
  24. Watco WA (22 December 2016). "Watco Acquires WA's IMG" (PDF) (Press release).
  25. Beyer, Mark (5 January 2017). "Watco buys WA freight business". Western Australian Business News.
  26. "Minutes" (PDF). Western Australia Port Operations Task Force. March 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2017.
  27. "Transfer ownership and renaming of CQFY & CQSY wagons to DQFY & DQSY" (PDF). Australian Rail Track Corporation. 12 April 2017.
  28. "US giant Watco poised to enter Queensland". Track & Signal. Vol. 22 no. 3. August 2018. p. 25.
  29. "No Tier 3 ... but it's not the end of the line, yet", Countryman, West Australia Newspapers Ltd: 3, 7 November 2019
  30. Hastie, Hamish (4 November 2019). "WA grain-train dispute over, but hopes of Tier 3 reopening derailed". Sydney Morning Herald.
  31. Mercer, Daniel (3 November 2019). "Standoff between CBH and Arc ends in breakthrough grain rail freight deal". ABC News.
  32. Thompson, Brad (4 November 2019). "Farmers want tougher oversight after six-year rail war". Financial Review.
  33. Gill, Mal (7 November 2019). "CBH, Arc rail deal on track". Farm Weekly.
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