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 commenced operating in Queensland under a contract with GrainCorp. It is a subsidiary of Watco.

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

History

In 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. 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]

In 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 was 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 linked 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 transported 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 commenced operations in Queensland under a seven-year contract with GrainCorp. Eight WRA class locomotives from the National Railway Equipment Company and 128 wagons (designated DGWY) from CRRC in China were ordered.[28] Seven WRB class and one WRC class were repatriated from Transnet Freight Rail in South Africa.[29][30]

When next tendered, the CBH Group contract was awarded to Aurizon.[31][32] Although scheduled to transition in May 2022, all parties agreed to bring the handover date forward to September 2021.[33][34]

Fleet
Class Image Built Number Unit numbers Notes
Standard Gauge (4' 81⁄2" / 1,435mm)
HL 1969 1 HL203 Acquired from CFCL Australia November 2016, originally NSW Railways 42203
FL 1970 1 FL220 Acquired from CFCL Australia November 2016, originally NSW Railways 42220
G 1984 1 G511 Acquired from CFCL Australia 2017, originally owned by V/Line[35]
PB 2014 7 PB1-7 Acquired from Pacific National in late 2021. Used to shunt the Port Kembla steelworks.
T 1964 4 T369, T373, T376-77 Acquired from Rail First in 2021. Originally owned by the Victorian Railways (later V/Line)
DR 1971 2 DR1564-65 Ex TasRail D class, originally WAGR D1564-65
Narrow Gauge (3' 6" / 1,067mm)
WRA 2019 8 WRA001-008 For GrainCorp contract in Queensland
WRB 1982 7 WRB2174, 77, 80–81, 83–84, 88 For GrainCorp and cattle contract in Queensland, repatriated from Transnet Freight Rail in South Africa after being sold by Aurizon[36]
WRC 1984 2 WRC2202, 2206
WRD 2005 2 WRD2257, 2266
WRE 1967 2 WRE1723, 62 For cattle contract in Queensland. 1723 ex Queensland Rail, 1762 repatriated from South Africa

Watco also operated 25 CBH class and 10 DBZ class locomotives as part of its contract with CBH.

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. Archived from the original on 23 October 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  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. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  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. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  24. Watco WA (22 December 2016). "Watco Acquires WA's IMG" (PDF) (Press release). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  25. Beyer, Mark (5 January 2017). "Watco buys WA freight business". Western Australian Business News. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  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. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  28. "US giant Watco poised to enter Queensland". Track & Signal. Vol. 22, no. 3. August 2018. p. 25.
  29. Old for New for Whyalla Catch Point issue 253 September 2019 page 10
  30. Watco Australia Qld News Motive Power issue 125 September 2019 page 6
  31. Aurizon and CBH sign long-term agreement for WA grain haulage Aurizon 6 August 2021
  32. CBH chooses Aurizon as rail services provider Rail Express 13 August 2021
  33. CBH seeks a rail new deal Farm Weekly 14 April 2021
  34. Grain contracts change hands in Western Australia The Railway Magazine issue 1447 October 2021 page 106
  35. Locomotive acquisitions The Westland issue 286 2018 page 24
  36. Watco prepares for Queensland start-up Railway Digest August 2018 page 17
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