The multi-million investment is the first by the company since its $334 million purchase of the railway from FreighLink in December.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed company said the seven, high-horsepower and energy efficient standard-gauge engines would be delivered by the end of December 2011 and would operate on the 2300km of the track between Tarcoola, north of Adelaide and Darwin.

“… the new locomotives will improve service reliability for customers, particularly in the Adelaide to Darwin corridor,” Genesee & Wyoming Australia managing director Bert Easthope said.

“We look forward to making similar investments alongside our customers as opportunities develop in South Australia and the Northern Territory,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Mr Easthope said the locomotives would be built by Downer EDI in Newcastle and would replace some of the engines currently operating on the line.

The company’s US parent did not disclose the cost of the purchase.

via AdelaideNow

Genesee & Wyoming bought the rail line from FreightLink, which went into receivership in 2008.

Genesee & Wyoming’s managing director Robert Easthope says it is in a better financial position to boost services on the line.

“There are a number of mines that are currently operating and are operating using rail and would have been perhaps questionable had the rail not gone through,” he said.

“And there are many deposits out there that will require the services of rail.

“And additionally as the domestic consumption of Darwin grows and the population grows, the growth of the intermodal business will grow as well.”

Concerns have been raised that the maintenance of the rail line has been substandard after a derailment of a freight train last week.

Mr Easthope says the company plans to invest in the rail corridor to ensure growth in the number of services.

“We will continue to perform the high level of maintenance that has been done,” he said.

“We will continue to make some capital investments in the track to ensure that the longevity of the track remains intact.”

via ABC News

Regulators have approved a deal that would see Genesee and Wyoming take over the line from Freightlink.

Freightlink was forced to spend about $300,000 to right a freight train and fix a section of track after a derailment in Alice Springs at the weekend.

Its chief executive John Fullerton says the transfer to the new owner should take place in a month or two.

“We’re currently working with the new owners, Genesee and Wyoming to work with the Northern Territory and South Australian governments on the transfer of the concession which is the 50-year concession to operate on the railway.”

via ABC News

Genesee & Wyoming Inc – which has been managing the line since 2004 – has signed an agreement with KordaMentha, receivers and managers of FreightLink, to buy the assets of FreightLink for $334 million (US$277.2 million at current exchange rates).

The railway – opened amid much fanfare by the Howard Government in 2003 – is used to haul general freight and military equipment, particularly Abram tanks to the Cultana training ground near Port Augusta.

FreightLink also had mining contracts with Prominent Hill in SA and Bootu Creek mine and Frances Creek in NT.

The railway has effectively removed 500 heavy vehicles a week from road routes, cutting fuel and greenhouse gas emissions by 66 per cent per tonne transported.

The acquisition is subject to government approvals, but GWI expects to close the deal and start operations in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The rail line, which has been on the market for two years, is located on land leased to FreightLink by the AustralAsia Railway Corporation under a concession agreement that terminates in 2054.

FreightLink commenced operations in 2004, following the $1.2 billion construction of the Alice Springs to Darwin portion of the rail line. FreightLink has been in receivership since November 2008.

Attempts have been made to sell the asset since KordaMentha were appointed to the company in November 2008, but the lack of “attractive” bids due to the global financial crisis stalled efforts.

via AdelaideNow

The locomotive operated by Genesee and Wyoming was towing 23 carriages laden with limestone from Penrice Soda’s Angaston quarry when it came unstuck just after 1pm near Penfold’s Barossa Valley headquarters.

The accident blocked traffic through the town as carriages balanced dangerously close to houses which backed onto the train line.

The train, carrying a driver and observer, was delivering the limestone to Penrice Soda’s Osborne processing plant.

Genesee and Wyoming general manager operations Ian Hall said 11 carriages derailed but that nobody was injured.

The company contracts Transfield to maintain the tracks, but Mr Hall said it was too early to speculate as to the cause of the derailment.

He said the tracks were inspected on a regular basis and that there had been “no warning” to problems at the bend.

“At this stage we still don’t know what the cause of the derailment was and we probably won’t for another 24 to 48 hours,” he said.

“We expect to have recovery (of the train) within the next 18 to 24 hours and have the line back in full operation by tomorrow afternoon.”

He said the train was travelling at 20km/h at the time of the incident.

AdelaideNow