FreightCorp (formally the ''Freight Rail Corporation'') was a railway operator owned by the Government of

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 ...

responsible for intrastate and some interstate rail cargo handling from its creation in January 1989 until it was privatised in August 2002.

History

In January 1989, the freight operations of the

State Rail Authority The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003. History The ''Transport Authorities Ac ...

were transferred to Freight Rail pursuant to the . On 1 July 1996, Freight Rail was corporatised. On 24 October 1996, Freight Rail was relaunched as FreightCorp. On 1 February 2002, along with

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...

, FreightCorp was sold to a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

between

Patrick Corporation Patrick Corporation is an Australian seaport operator with operations in Brisbane, Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney. Formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, it is owned by Brookfield Asset Management and Qube Holdings. History ...

and

Toll Holdings The Toll Group is an Australian-based subsidiary of Japan Post Holdings with operations in transportation, warehousing and logistics in road, rail, sea and air. It has two divisions; Global Forwarding, Global Logistics. History In 1888, Al ...

Pacific National Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses. History In February 2002, National Rail Corporation, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Government of Australia, Federal, Government of New ...

Operations

When established in 1989, Freight Rail was responsible for the operation of all rail freight services in

. It was also responsible for providing locomotives to haul passenger services for

CityRail CityRail was a passenger railway brand operated by the State Rail Authority from 1989 to 2003 and by RailCorp from 2003 to 2013 with services in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities in New South Wales, Australi ...

and

CountryLink CountryLink was a passenger rail and road service brand that operated in regional areas New South Wales, Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne. Originally created as a business unit (or sub-brand) of the State Rail Authority of New South Wales, it l ...

. Following the opening up of the New South Wales network to other operators, it began to face competition from other operators. Interstate services were transferred to

in the mid-1990s. In 1999, it began to operate coal trains in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

on the Leigh Creek to Stirling North line to the Northern Power Station,

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...

."Freight Carriers Move into New Markets" ''Railway Digest'' January 1999 page 9

Fleet

Freight Rail inherited all of the

's locomotive fleet. In February 1992, it awarded contracts for fifty-eight 82 class and twenty-nine 90 class locomotives. These allowed it to withdraw most of the 422, 44, 442, 45 and 49 class locomotives. After experimenting with a green and yellow livery, a dark blue, yellow and white livery was introduced in 1991.

References

{{Reflist Defunct railway companies of Australia 1989 establishments in Australia Freight railway companies of Australia Australian companies disestablished in 2002 Australian companies established in 1989 Railway companies established in 1989 Railway companies disestablished in 2002