Interail

For the European railway pass, see InterRail.

Interail is an Australian rail freight operator based in Casino, New South Wales.

Creation

New South Wales 421 class locomotive in Interail livery

Interail was launched on May 31, 2002, as the interstate running arm of Queensland Rail,^[1] entering railway operations in New South Wales with the acquisition of Northern Rivers Railroad. This provided standard gauge locomotives and rolling stock to the company, which were not available from the narrow gauge parent Queensland Rail.^[2]

In 1990 the Northern Rivers Scenic Railroad (NRSR) was established to run tourist trains from Casino to Murwillumbah in the far north of New South Wales. Locomotives and rolling stock were acquired, and restored at the former State Rail Authority of New South Wales depot at Casino.^[1]

In the mid 1990s the Hilmer Report increased competition on the state owned railways, and the Northern Rivers Railroad (NRR) established to operate trains for the NRSR. The Northern Rivers Railroad was officially launched on October 2, 1997,^[1] and commenced running freight trains of in a joint venture with FreightCorp between Casino and Murwillumbah using 421 class locomotives. Cement and flyash was the initial traffic, followed by the Ritz Rail tourist train from Murwillumbah to Lismore, and occasional rail maintenance workings.

Operations

The first contract held by Interail was the maintenance contract for the North Coast line of New South Wales. It was followed by the first coal haulage contract from Dulalie Colliery to Stratford Mine in NSW from March 2003,^[3] then haulage of containers between Casino and Fishermans Island in Brisbane from May 2003. Another coal contract in the Hunter Valley was won in late 2003 for the haulage of coal from Newstan Colliery near Fassifern to Vales Point power station.^[3]

Interail then expanded in 2004 with a Melbourne to Brisbane intermodal service, in part due to the linehaul needs of Colin Rees Transport.^[4] Since parent company Queensland Rail launched the QRNational brand in 2005^[5] it is unknown how long the Interail brand will remain in use.^[6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Peter Attenborough (October 2004). "Interail". Australian Model Railway Magazine 21 (248): 28. 
2. ^ Peter Attenborough (October 2004). "Interail". Australian Model Railway Magazine 21 (248): 30. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Peter Attenborough (October 2004). "Interail". Australian Model Railway Magazine 21 (248): 31. 
4. ^ Peter Attenborough (February 2006). "Colin Rees Transport (CRT)". Australian Model Railway Magazine 22 (256): 37. 
5. ^ QR History - QR in the future
6. ^ Railpage Australia discussion board: "Interrail" thread

See also

• Queensland Rail
• QRNational
• Colin Rees Transport

External links

• http://www.interail.com.au/ Official site
• Interail fleet listing