Queensland Rail beats rival company Pacific National to secure lucrative $2 billion coal haulage contract
December 17, 2009
Queensland Rail has beaten rival company Pacific National to secure a lucrative $2 billion coal haulage contract.
The contract covers the Newlands, Collinsville, Oaky Creek and Rolleston mines in Queensland, and Premier Anna Bligh says the deal shows “QR is winning the race” against the competition.
Executive General Manager of QR National Coal Marcus McAuliffe says the new long term contracts will begin in 2010 and 2011.
“We are delighted to finalise these agreements because they build on our recent successes in the NSW market where we have almost trebled our market share,” he says.
QR CEO Lance Hockridge says the operator will spend about $100 million to expand its fleet to meet the contractual obligations.
He says the existing contracts were to expire or be reviewed in 2011 and were the subject of a competitive tender process.
According to Bligh, the contract also shows the benefits of privatising the rail operator as part of the Government’s planned sell-off of state assets announced earlier this year.
“A listed QR National will be successful, providing job security for its workers and creating new jobs into the future,” Bligh says.
The decision to sell state assets has been pilloried by the unions, which are campaigning to scrap the moves.
As well as offloading QR, the Government is also looking at selling the Port of Brisbane.