{"id":547592,"date":"2026-09-22T17:48:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T07:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=74451"},"modified":"2026-09-22T17:48:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T07:48:00","slug":"mass-movement-who-handles-australian-rail-freight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=547592","title":{"rendered":"Mass movement: Who handles Australian rail freight?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Geographically massive with a mostly coastally-located population, Australia is a large market for rail freight. That may explain why both its infrastructure and operators are attracting attention from overseas investors.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Australian federal and state governments are focusing now on intermodal terminals, port infrastructure and rail lines. Foreign companies have, over the last few years, moved into investing in operators and key logistics hubs like the Port of Melbourne. Australian players have shifted into buying or building intermodal terminals.<\/p>\n

The scale<\/h2>\n

As of December 2024, Australia\u2019s Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Economics estimated that there were 31,212 kilometres of rail across the country. The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC)\u2019s Inland Rail<\/a> project aims to add another 1,600 kilometres of double stacked rail freight line connecting Brisbane to Melbourne with a hub at Parkes, in New South Wales (NSW), to connect to existing east-west rail links. The ARTC already manages over 9,600 kilometres of rail freight track.<\/p>\n

State government-run Queensland Rail manages more than 5,700 kilometres of rail lines on its regional network that are used for rail freight. Similarly TasRail runs 611 kilometres of operational track across Tasmania. There are also privately owned rail freight lines. Major companies such as BHP, Rio Tinto and CBH often own and run rail freight from their mining, production or agricultural sites to intermodal terminals or ports. Certain freight operators like Bowmans Rail and LinFox have built and run their own rail freight lines and intermodal terminals.<\/p>\n

As of 2024-25, 70% of bulk freight was moved by rail including iron ore, grain and coal, compared to just 16% of non-bulk freight. The highest share of non-bulk freight moved was through the east-west corridor between Perth in Western Australia and the eastern states.<\/p>\n

\"Australia's
Australia’s National Network of Interoperability. Image: \u00a9 Infrastructure Australia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The big players<\/h2>\n

Aurizon, formerly part of Queensland Rail National Limited before privatisation, is the biggest rail freight operator in the country transporting iron ore, cement, bauxite, alumina, base metals, coal, fertiliser and grain.<\/p>\n

Pacific National is another big player, operated by a consortium Australia Logistical Acquisitions Investments Proprietary Ltd. The consortium consists of Global Infrastructure Partners (a subsidiary of BlackRock), China Investment Corporation (a Chinese government-run company), the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, Singaporean government-owned GIC Private Ltd and another Canadian partner, the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation.<\/p>\n

In February 2026, Macquarie Asset Management bought out Qube Logistics which operates in Victoria and NSW and delisted it from the Australian Stock Exchange in July. Qube also owns the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal in Sydney.<\/p>\n

SCT Logistics, set up for specialised container transport, is owned by the Smith family and owns the 10-hectare Bromelton Intermodal Terminal. It cost 32.5 million AUD to build with the Australian federal government putting in 9.6 million AUD. SCT continues to handle speciaised container transport and also steel.<\/p>\n

Bowmans Rail is another rail freight operator that owns its own intermodal terminals, including Bowman Intermodal and another at Port Augusta in South Australia. The company transports ore, grain and specialty pulses. Similarly, LinFox also owns intermodal terminals and runs a road fleet alongside its rail freight services but operates nationally.<\/p>\n

The plans<\/h2>\n

The Inland Rail project is currently underway with the line from the Beveridge Intermodal Precinct (BIP) in Victoria to Parkes in NSW expected to be completed by 2027. Beveridge will be the largest intermodal terminal in Australia. Another 39-kilometre stretch of single stacked rail freight line will also be added to take freight to Kagaru. Land acquisition and assessments are underway for the project from Narromine in NSW to Ebeneezer in Queensland.<\/p>\n

The Australian federal government has also invested 440 million AUD in the Darwin – Tarcoola Line in the Northern Territory and 1 billion AUD in the Network Investment Program. The ARTC aims to unify the infrastructure including addressing issues of different track gauges. A National Network for Interoperability (NNI) maps lines and identifies critical interfaces to improve signalling, controlling and asset management.<\/p>\n

\n

Out of 13 key rail freight routes, five have been identified as being at high risk of freight obstruction or service disruption due to natural hazards in a 2023 review, with only four having road alternatives.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • The Western Australian Trans Continental Line<\/strong> (general freight, grain and iron ore);<\/li>\n
  • The South Australian Trans Continental Line<\/strong> (general freight);<\/li>\n
  • The Queensland Great Northern Line<\/strong> (mining);<\/li>\n
  • The Queensland Western System<\/strong> (coal);<\/li>\n
  • The NSW Main Western Line<\/strong> (mining).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Geographically massive with a mostly coastally-located population, Australia is a large market for rail freight. That may explain why both its infrastructure and operators are\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15419,273,72,471,47],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-547592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aurizon","category-australia","category-business","category-news","category-rail-news","tag-railfreight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t