The latest generation of track maintenance machines are safer and more productive
Aurizon has committed $180 million to bring in a fleet of high-tech track maintenance machines and specialised wagons.
Managing director Lance Hockridge says the 40 new vehicles will underpin delivery of an ever-increasing freight task based on export coal.
He unveiled the first of the 62-metre, 193-tonne track machines at a ceremony in Sarina, south of Mackay, last week.
“These massive machines operate on the $5 billion asset which is the Central Queensland Coal Network,” he says. “The upgrade of our mechanised fleet means the network will remain in the best possible condition.
“[They] mean we will be able to do more quality work in far less time, something that is critical as we continue to transform.”
Last financial year, the network carried a record volume of 214 million tonnes of coal. Hockridge says the new investment will allow for even higher tonnage across the network, while at the same time improving safety, reliability and post-natural disaster resilience.