Number 2                       October 2007

FreightLink’s website has been revamped to more closely align with the company’s general and bulk freight business segments, and is now live at www.freightlink.com.au

Freight volumes have surged to record levels in recent months, up by some 220,000 tonnes for the same three-month period (July–September) last year. Both general and bulk freight have lifted, with bulk especially boosted by record levels of manganese from the Bootu Creek mine, which FreightLink rails from the siding north of Tennant Creek up the line to the Port of Darwin for shipment to China.

CEO John Fullerton was on hand in Darwin on 28 September when Territory Resources’ first shipment of 65,000 tonnes of iron ore from Frances Creek was loaded at the port—the major milestone marked by a ribbon cutting ceremony by the NT’s chief minister Clare Martin MLA. FreightLink began railing the iron ore to the bulk minerals discharge facility adjacent to the port in July. Territory Resources plans four cargos before the end of the year, with annual production starting at 1.5 million tonnes pa with a production target of 3 million tonnes pa within 18 months.

FreightLink has taken on seven new trainee drivers in the NT based in Darwin as a result of the project, with the group (aged in their late 30s–early 40s) starting from scratch on a three-year course and on-the-job training to become fully qualified locomotive drivers.  ‘They’re in this for the long haul’, says G&WA’s Rob Rudolph, who expects employment opportunities in the rail industry to grow exponentially as new minerals projects come on stream. (G&WA is FreightLink’s train crew and train control services supplier.)

Work at SA’s Islington Workshops is picking up pace as around 70 new hopper wagons— being built by Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia (CFCLA) for the Territory Resources’ iron ore task—take shape. Pending increase in output from Frances Creek, more wagons and locomotives (in addition to the three already leased from CFCLA) may be called for.

As a result of ongoing growth in intermodal business and the start-up of Oxiana’s Prominent Hill mine (for which FreightLink will rail copper and gold concentrate from the mine southeast of Coober Pedy to the Port of Darwin), a sixth train service will be operational by mid-2008. To service it and the Oxiana contract, a further four locomotives, 116 flat wagons and a crew car will be leased from CFCLA.

A class from Alice Springs’ Anzac Hill High School is set to take a trip on the Ghan after winning a rail safety poster competition run by FreightLink in conjunction with Ghan operator Great Southern Rail. The competition, initiated as part of the Australasian Railway Association’s National Rail Safety Awareness Week, ran hand-in-hand with FreightLink’s own level-crossing safety campaign timed for the start-up of Territory Resources’ project and the doubling of trains on the Pine Creek–Darwin leg.
 
And more on rail safety, on 20 July FreightLink received formal notification by SA and NT regulatory authorities it had passed the annual rail safety audit with flying colours (ie without any non-compliances). This gives customers, drivers and other operators on the line the reassurance that systems and processes are in place that provide for safe operations.

Reliability of freight into Darwin has been significantly improved with the lifting of speed restrictions between Katherine and Darwin, following repairs and maintenance to the track from wet-season flooding (1-in-100 years) and incidents at two level crossings. Customers were kept informed every step of the way, in particular, by delays brought about by difficulties accessing a track tamper outside scheduled maintenance.
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