FreightLink

FreightLink was a railway freight operator in Australia that operated in the newly completed Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor between 2004 and 2010.

History
A Darwin-bound FreightLink container train passes through Dry Creek in 2005
In 2015, five years after the company collapsed, a FreightLink logo remains on a GWA-owned J class diesel shunter in Alice Springs

In 2000, the AustralAsia Railway Corporation awarded the contract to build and operate the Adelaide-Darwin railway line as a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer project to the Asia Pacific Transport Consortium, which in turn awarded the contract to FreightLink to build and operate the project.

FreightLink commenced operations in January 2004 on the Tarcoola to Darwin line. FreightLink had intermodal terminals at Adelaide, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, and Darwin. It performed marketing, integrated service management and management of service providers. A number of operational activities were outsourced to specialist providers including train and terminal management, port terminal operations and rail maintenance.

In May 2008 the consortium of banks and infrastructure companies behind Freightlink decided to sell the railway and its operating company[1] In June 2008 FreightLink announced that it would add an extra weekly rail service between Adelaide and Darwin due to growing demand, taking the total number of services to six.[2]

During November 2008 the company was placed into voluntary administration. This resulted in FreightLink's bankers exercising their rights to appoint a receiver, KordaMentha which then took control of the company, as the deal to sell the company fell through after a small number of the banks funding FreightLink refused the terms of the sale to the preferred bidder.[3][4]

On 9 June 2010, Genesee & Wyoming signed an agreement with the receivers to buy the assets of FreightLink for $334 million.[5] It would be operated as part of Genesee & Wyoming Australia.[6]

Fleet

Diesel locomotives owned by FreightLink included:[7]

References
  1. Vesna Poljak and Michael Smith (19 May 2008). "Banks force sale of $1.2bn Adelaide- Darwin rail link". Australian Financial Review. p. 1 and 19.
  2. "Extra Adel-Darwin rail service starts". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 24 June 2008. Archived from the original on 3 July 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  3. Freightlink Pty Ltd - Press release 8 November 2008 Archived 25 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "FreightLink goes into administration". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 November 2008. Archived from the original on 9 November 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
  5. "FreightLink-owned Adelaide-Darwin railway to be sold to US company Genesee & Wyoming". The Advertiser. 9 June 2010. Archived from the original on 10 June 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  6. "Genesee & Wyoming Inc. Signs Agreement to Acquire FreightLink". PRNewswire. 9 June 2010. Archived from the original on 11 June 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  7. "VICSIG - Locomotives - FreightLink". vicsig.net. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
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