Rail First Asset Management (RailFirst), formerly known as CFCL Australia (CFCLA), is an Australian rolling stock leasing company operating in the rail freight market. It leases assets to a number of private rail operators in the local rail industry, predominantly on the defined interstate rail network. Though primarily based in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, RailFirst's assets can be found operating in most Australian states and with all major train operating companies. It has rolling stock on both long-term lease to these companies as well as assets that are available for spot hire. It is owned by Anchorage Capital Partners.

History

CFCL Australia was established in 1998, by the American Chicago Freight Car Leasing Company. Its first contract was for the supply of a small fleet of radio controlled, automated ballast hoppers to

Westrail Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

. The first locomotives acquired were 13 members of the EL class from Australian National in November 1998. In 2000, it diversified into wagons. In March 2009, the

Marubeni Corporation (, OSE: 8002, NSE: 8002) is a ''sōgō shōsha'' (general trading company) headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the largest ''sogo shosha'' and has leading market shares in cereal and paper pulp trading as well as a st ...

purchased a 49% stake in CFCL Australia. In November 2012, CFCL Australia unveiled its first infrastructure train in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a g ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. As at October 2014, it had locomotives operating construction trains on the Roy Hill railway and on the

Hamersley & Robe River railway The Hamersley & Robe River railway, majority-owned by Rio Tinto, and operated by its subsidiary Pilbara Iron, is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for the purpose of carrying iron ore. The network is larger than ...

. Marubeni relinquished its stake in CFCL Australia in 2016 and moving to 15% stake in CF Asia Pacific. As of January 2020, Marubeni holds no interest in either entity. After being sold to Anchorage Capital Partners in January 2020, CFCL Australia was re-branded as Rail First Asset Management in 2021.

CFCLA Maintenance previously CF Rail Services

In September 2010, CFCLA took out a lease on the

Goulburn Railway Workshops The Goulburn Rail Heritage Centre is located at the heritage-listed former railway workshops in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia, on the Main Southern railway line. Now a museum, it is also known as the Goulburn Rail Workshop and Goulburn Ro ...

to maintain both its locomotive and wagon fleets with the facility named the Australian Horse Power Service Centre. As well as maintaining its own fleet, Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia also perform maintenance for other operators including

Qube Logistics Qube Holdings is a diversified logistics and infrastructure company in Australia. History In July 2006, following the takeover of Patrick Corporation by Toll Holdings, Chris Corrigan and some executives departed and teamed with Kaplan Funds Man ...

. It also maintains locomotives at

Islington Railway Workshops The Islington Railway Workshops are railway workshops in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. They were the chief railway workshops of the South Australian Railways, and are still in operation today.Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. CF Rail Services was established in 2013, bringing together the Australian Horse Power Service Centre and took over Bluebird Rail Operations engineering business at Islington. The CF Rail Services name was dropped in 2017 to consolidate the name as Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia also known as CFCLA.

Fleet

Initially, RailFirst locomotive fleet comprised second-hand locomotives no longer required by rail operators or re-manufactured units that had been given life-extending overhauls. More recently it has purchased new locomotives The RailFirst diesel locomotive fleet is made up of a variety of different classes of units, ranging from modern high power units to older mainline locomotives, it's older smaller locomotive now retired. As at October 2019, it comprised 78 locomotives. Most locomotives in the fleet are named after famous Australian racehorses. RailFirst fleet consist of 1195 freight wagons of a variety of types including ballast hoppers, grain hoppers, bulk mineral hoppers, and intermodal flat wagons of varying lengths and carrying capabilities. RailFirst wagons generally have four-character identification codes starting with the letter C.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Company website
Railway rolling stock leasing companies of Australia Railway companies established in 1998 1998 establishments in Australia