Watco Australia is a rail haulage operator that was formed in 2010 to haul grain for the CBH Group in Western Australia. In 2019, it commenced operating in Queensland under a contract with GrainCorp. It is a subsidiary of Watco.
History In 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. 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.
In 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 was 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 linked 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 transported an average of 10-12 million tonnes (368-441 million bushels) of grain from 192 country reception sites to CBH's four export terminals.
Although the contract officially commenced on 1 May 2012, Watco operated its first service on 30 March 2012. Because of a delay in the delivery of the rolling stock, QR National continued to operate some gauge services until October 2012, while to operate standard gauge services, locomotives were hired from Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia and SCT Logistics. A further three locomotives were delivered in 2015 as compensation for late delivery of the original order.
In 2016, Watco Australia was awarded an infrastructure train contract by Brookfield Rail to operate infrastructure trains with two 422 class locomotives purchased from CFCL Australia. In December 2016, Watco acquired a majority shareholding in Intermodal Group, a Western Australian intermodal container transport group. In July 2017, Watco took over the operation of the Forrestfield to Fremantle Harbour intermodal container service from SCT Logistics with flat wagons purchased from CFCL Australia.
In late 2019, Watco Australia commenced operations in Queensland under a seven-year contract with GrainCorp. Eight WRA class locomotives from the National Railway Equipment Company and 128 wagons (designated DGWY) from CRRC in China were ordered. Seven WRB class and one WRC class were repatriated from Transnet Freight Rail in South Africa.Old for New for Whyalla Catch Point issue 253 September 2019 page 10Watco Australia Qld News Motive Power issue 125 September 2019 page 6
When next tendered, the CBH Group contract was awarded to Aurizon.Aurizon and CBH sign long-term agreement for WA grain haulage Aurizon 6 August 2021CBH chooses Aurizon as rail services provider Rail Express 13 August 2021 Although scheduled to transition in May 2022, all parties agreed to bring the handover date forward to September 2021.CBH seeks a rail new deal Farm Weekly 14 April 2021Grain contracts change hands in Western Australia The Railway Magazine issue 1447 October 2021 page 106
Fleet Class Image Built Number Unit numbers NotesStandard Gauge (4' 8" / 1,435mm)1200 class201321201-1202Acquired from the National Railway Equipment Company in late 2021FL class19701FL220Acquired from CFCLA November 2016, originally NSW Railways 42220G class19841G511Acquired from CFCLA 2017, originally owned by V/LineLocomotive acquisitions The Westland issue 286 2018 page 24H class1968-19694H1-3, H5Acquired from Pacific National (H1) and Ettamogha Rail Hub (H2, H3, H5) in mid-2023HL class19691HL203Acquired from CFCLA November 2016, originally NSW Railways 42203PB class20147PB1-7Acquired from Pacific National in late 2021. Used to shunt the Port Kembla steelworksT class19645T369, T373, T376, T377, T404T369, T373, T376 and T377 acquired from CFCLA in 2021 and T404 from SCT Logistics in 2023. Originally owned by the Victorian Railways and later V/LineX class19701X37Acquired from the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre in mid 2025Narrow Gauge (3' 6" / 1,067mm)DBZ class1982-198310DBZ2301-DBZ2308, DBZ2312-DBZ2313Ex Westrail DB classDR class19712DR1564-65Ex TasRail D class, originally WAGR D1564-65WRA class20198WRA001-008For GrainCorp contract in QueenslandWRB class19827WRB2174, 77, 80–81, 83–84, 88For GrainCorp and cattle contract in Queensland, repatriated from Transnet Freight Rail in South Africa after being sold by AurizonWatco prepares for Queensland start-up Railway Digest August 2018 page 17WRC class19843WRC2202, 2204, 2206WRD class20054WRD2251, 2252, 2257,2266WRE class19672WRE1723, 62For cattle contract in Queensland. 1723 ex Queensland Rail, 1762 repatriated from South Africa Leased Fleet Watco also have multiple locomotives leased to bolster their standard gauge operations.
Class Image Built Number Unit numbers NotesGML class19901GML10Leased From QUBE
References
External links Company website