Watco Australia
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Rail transport |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Perth |
|
Area served
|
Western Australia |
| Services | Freight & infrastructure train haulage |
| Parent | Watco Companies |
| Website | Watco Companies |
Watco Australia is a rail haulage operator that was formed in 2010 to haul grain for the CBH Group. It is a subsidiary of Watco Companies, a United States listed short line rail haulage operator.
On 2009, CBH Group decided to put its rail grain haulage services out to tender for the first time. This work had previously been performed by the Western Australian Government Railways, Australian Western Railroad and QR National (now Aurizon). CBH aimed that the amount of grain transported by rail rise from 50% to 70%. CBH settled on a business model that saw it invest in new locomotives and grain wagons, with day-to-day operations contracted out.
On 13 December 2010, CBH awarded Watco WA Rail a ten-year contract to operate services in the south of Western Australia. To operate the services, CBH purchased 22 CBH class locomotives from MotivePower, Boise and 574 grain wagons from Bradken, Xuzhou. The cost of this rolling stock was $175 million.
Under the agreement, Watco is responsible for providing a comprehensive rail logistics planning service, including train planning and scheduling, tracking, maintenance, inventory control and crew management. Watco operates and maintains the rolling stock, with ownership remaining with CBH.
The services link various CBH grain collection points in the wheatbelt with CBH terminal and port facilities in Albany, Geraldton and Kwinana. CBH operate on the Arc Infrastructure managed open access network. Watco transports an average of 10-12 million tonnes (368-441 million bushels) of grain from 192 country reception sites to CBH’s four export terminals.
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Wikipedia