Interail

Interail was an Australian rail freight operator owned by QR National. In June 2011 it ceased trading as a separate brand, and became part of QR National.

For the European railway pass, see InterRail.
Interail
IndustryRailway operator
Founded1990
Defunct30 June 2011
Headquarters
Casino
ParentQR National
Websitewww.interail.com.au

Northern Rivers Railroad

Northern Rivers Railroad was established in 1990 with the intention of running tourist trains on the Casino to Murwillumbah line in northern New South Wales. Four 421 class locomotives were purchased in 1990[1] and along with some former South Australian Railways steel and State Rail Authority carriages were restored to operational condition at Junee Locomotive Depot before moving to Casino in October 1996.[2][3]

On 22 September 1997, Northern Rivers Railroad commenced operating cement and flyash trains from Grafton to Casino and Murwillumbah under sub-contract to FreightCorp.[3][4][5] A 49 class locomotive was hired from FreightCorp for a few months in 1998.[6]

In May 1999, a tourist service started operating the Ritz Rail tourist train between Murwillumbah and Lismore.[7] It also ran to other destinations including Brisbane.[8] In 1999, two 422 class locomotives were purchased from FreightCorp.[9] In 2000 Northern Rivers Railroad operated some infrastructure trains in the Hunter Valley.[10]

Sale to QR National

In March 2002, Northern Rivers Railroad was purchased by Queensland Rail and rebranded Interail, fulfilling a long held ambition of to expand beyond its state borders.[3][11][12] The tourist train was not included.

The first contract won by Interail was hauling infrastructure trains on the North Coast line of New South Wales for Rail Infrastructure Corporation. It was followed by a coal haulage contract from Duralie Colliery to Stratford Mine from March 2003,[3] then haulage of containers between Casino and Brisbane from May 2003. Another coal contract in the Hunter Valley was won in late 2003 for the haulage of coal from Newstan Colliery, Fassifern to Vales Point Power Station.[3][13]

In 2004. Interail began running Brisbane to Melbourne and Sydney to Melbourne intermodal services, in part due to the linehaul needs of CRT Group.[13][14]

To operate these extra services two Queensland Railways 1502 class were rebuilt in 2002 as 423s using standard gauge bogies recovered from 49 class locomotives. A further four followed in 2004/05.[15] Two former Westrail L class locomotives were acquired from Rail Technical Support Group in 2004. To operate the intermodal services two X class and two G class locomotives were transferred from Freight Australia as part of a deal requiring CRT Group to receive 10,000 hp (7,500 kW) of locomotive power should Freight Australia be sold to a competitor of CRT, which it was when sold to Pacific National.[14] Locomotives were also often hired from Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia.[13]

Following the formation of QR National in 2004/05, all new business was done under this brand. The ex Freight Australia locomotives carried QR National branding from 2005 as did the last two 423s. In June 2011 it ceased trading as a separate brand, and became part of QR National.[16]

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References
  1. "Locomotives and Traffic 421 Class" Railway Digest December 1990 page 439
  2. "The Northern Rivers Railroad" Railway Digest December 1996 page 28
  3. Peter Attenborough (October 2004). "Interail". Australian Model Railway Magazine. 21 (248): 28.
  4. "Northern Rivers Railroad Beats Austrac as First Private Rail Freight Operator" Railway Digest October 1997 page 8
  5. "Northern Rivers May Target Export Traffic to Brisbane" Railway Digest November 1997 page 7
  6. "Northern Rivers Railroad Update" Railway Digest October 1998 page 10
  7. "Northern Rivers launches a Ritzy train" Railway Digest July 1999 page 22
  8. "Northern Rivers Ritz Rail Train Visits Brisbane" Railway Digest December 1999 page 43
  9. NSWGR 422/22/FL/HL Class Locomotive Auscision Models
  10. "Northern Rivers Railroad" Railway Digest March 2001 page 21
  11. "QR moves into NSW with Northern Rivers Railroad buy" Archived 6 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine Rail Express 12 March 2002
  12. "QR National push" Archived 20 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine WorldCargo News March 2002
  13. QR National/Interail Trent Nicholson Blog
  14. Peter Attenborough (February 2006). "Colin Rees Transport". Australian Model Railway Magazine. 22 (256): 37.
  15. 423 class Vicsig.net
  16. Annual Report 30 June 2012 Archived 19 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine QR National
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