Downer Rail

Updated on Dec 11, 2024

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Industry Engineering Headquarters North Ryde Parent organization Downer Group		Products Railway rolling stock Founded March 2001

Predecessor Evans Deakin Industries Number of locations CardiffSomertonMaryborough Services Rail Infrastructure managementRailway locomotive leasing Revenue $1.336 billion (June 2013) Locations Cardiff Locomotive Workshops, Somerton, Maryborough

Downer Rail is an Australian railway engineering company. As well as manufacturing and maintaining railway rolling stock it holds maintenance contracts to maintain rail infrastructure. It is a subsidiary of Downer Group. The head office is located in North Ryde.

Downer rail

History

EDi Rail was formed in March 2001 following the purchase of Evans Deakin Industries by Downer Group to form Downer EDi. Evans Deakin operated the former Clyde Engineering plants at Kelso and Somerton and Walkers Limited, Maryborough plant. It had recently reopened the former Cardiff Locomotive Workshops to build CityRail M sets. In July 2007 it was renamed Downer Rail.

In 2008 Locomotive Demand Power was established as a subsidiary to lease locomotives. In November 2009 Downer Rail became a tram operator through its 49% shareholding in Keolis Downer that operates the Yarra Trams franchise in Melbourne. In July 2014, Keolis Downer commenced operating the G:link light rail line on the Gold Coast.

In March 2015, Keolis Downer purchased bus operator Australian Transit Enterprises which operates the Hornibrook Bus Lines, Link SA, Path Transit and SouthLink operations with 930 buses.

Products

Downer Rail has manufactured items of rolling stock at its factories in Cardiff, Somerton, Maryborough and Port Augusta. As the ex-licence holder for Electro-Motive Diesel products it has also been involved in the procurement and maintenance of over 150 American built EMD SD70 series locomotives for BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group's Pilbara operations.

Diesel Locomotives

GT42CU AC - 62 built at Maryborough for Pacific National and QR National

GT42CU ACe - 131 built at Maryborough for Genesee & Wyoming Australia, Locomotive Demand Power, Pacific National and QR National

GT46C - 5 built at Port Augusta and Somerton for FreightLink and Freight Australia

GT46C ACe - 76 built at Cardiff for Genesee & Wyoming Australia, Pacific National, QR National, SCT Logistics, Southern Shorthaul Railroad and Whitehaven Coal

Electric Multiple Units

Sydney Trains M sets - 141 carriages built at Cardiff

Sydney Trains A sets - 626 carriages built at Cardiff

QR Interurban Multiple Unit 160 series - 84 carriages built at Maryborough

QR Suburban Multiple Unit 260 series - 114 carriages built at Maryborough

Transperth B series - 234 carriages built at Maryborough +

+ in build as at September 2016

Tilt Trains

QR Diesel Tilt Train - 6 power cars and 32 carriages built at Maryborough

Locomotive leasing

Locomotive Demand Power is a subsidiary offering locomotives for lease. As at January 2014 thirteen standard gauge GT46s and six narrow gauge GT42s had been built at Cardiff and Maryborough respectively with nine of the former leased to Aurizon.

Light rail

49% shareholding in Keolis Downer joint venture with Keolis, trading as Yarra Trams, that has operated the Melbourne tram network since November 2009 and the G:link light rail network since July 2014.

Infrastructure projects

Northern Sydney Freight Corridor built two loops north of Gosford in 2014

Maintenance contracts

Australian Rail Track Corporation contract to maintain 2,000 kilometres of track in New South Wales and Victoria

Leigh Creek line maintenance contract until 2017

50% shareholding in a joint venture with Bombardier Transportation to maintain the A-series, B-series and Transwa Australind trains for the Public Transport Authority until June 2019

10 year contract to maintain 300 locomotives for 10 years from February 2015

References

Downer Rail Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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