South
Australian rail operator, Australia Southern Railroad (ASR) has awarded the
engineering company EDI Rail a total of $6 million in contracts associated
with the Alice Springs to Darwin rail project. The contracts are for the
refurbishment of locomotives and wagons to be used for construction of the
rail link. The work will be carried out at EDI’s Port Augusta Workshops.
Australia Southern Railroad (ASR), a subsidiary of the Australian
Railroad Group (ARG), will provide the construction trains to
be used in building the railway.
The contracts awarded to EDI Rail provide for:
·
Full overhaul, upgrading and repaint of four 2000hp 422
class mainline locomotives.
·
Full overhaul, upgrading and repaint of four 3000hp L Class
mainline locomotives.
·
Refurbishment and modification of 26 permanently coupled
pairs of rail wagons.
The
locomotives will be used in groups of three on the construction trains, which
will radiate from Tennant Creek and Katherine to the railheads, carrying the
hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rail, sleepers and ballast required for the
project.
The
modified rail wagons will be used to transport 27.5 metre lengths of steel
rail from the OneSteel plant at Whyalla to Alice Springs.
Chief
Executive Officer of ASR, Wayne James said, “ASR is pleased that the work is
being awarded to South Australian workshops. Port Augusta has a long and proud
tradition as a strategic railway centre and it is only fitting that these
workshops should play a pivotal role in the Alice to Darwin project.”
“This
investment by ASR, comes on top of the financial commitment to the project from
the Federal and State Governments and the Consortium partners. The refurbishment
of the locomotives will extend their working life by at least ten years, well
beyond the project’s construction phase.”
“They
will continue to be a valuable asset to ASR and will assist with the further
expansion of our business as we take advantage of the opportunities provided by
the expanding regional and interstate rail freight market,” Mr James said.
EDI
Rail State Manager, John Jason said, “I am delighted that our company has won
the contracts. Contracts such as these are very important in creating
opportunities to ensure continuity of employment for our workshop staff.”
Australia Southern Railroad
is wholly owned by the Australian
Railroad Group (ARG), Australia’s largest private rail operator. ARG
through ASR and its other subsidiary Australia
Western Railroad (AWR), provides intrastate rail freight haulage of bulk
commodities to key industries in South Australia and Western Australia, as
well as short-haul shunting and terminal operations in SA. It is also a major
supplier of locomotives, crews and wagon leasing services to freight
forwarders and infrastructure providers operating on interstate rail
corridors.
ARG
is jointly owned by leading US regional rail operator Genesee & Wyoming Inc. and WA based conglomerate Wesfarmers.
ARG is
part of the Asia Pacific Transport
Consortium, which will soon start construction and operation of the Alice
Springs to Darwin rail link.
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