South Spur Rail Services was a
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 ...
n owned railway company that provides terminal operations and short haul rail services. In February 2006, it purchased
Silverton Rail. In March 2007, it was sold to
Coote Industrial, then in March 2010 to
P&O Trans Australia, which in turn was acquired by
Qube Holdings.
History
South Spur Rail Services was formed in January 1997 by James Wilson and his three brothers.
It won a number of contracts for hauling infrastructure trains. In
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, it also provided hook-and-pull services for
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 ...
's SeaTrain service between
Kewdale Freight Terminal
Kewdale Freight Terminal is a large Intermodal freight transport, intermodal Rail transport, rail facility in the Perth suburb of Kewdale, Western Australia. Branching off the Kwinana freight railway, it was built in the 1960s to replace the Per ...
and
Fremantle Port
Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval vis ...
. In the construction of the
Perth to Mandurah railway, South Spur Rail Services diesels hauled track and sleepers over the
Mount Henry Bridge
The Mount Henry Bridge carries the Kwinana Freeway and Mandurah railway line over the Canning River in Perth, approximately south of the Perth central business district. At long, it is the longest road bridge in Western Australia. It spans t ...
as far as
South Perth.
By 2004, it had commenced operating infrastructure trains 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 ...
. In 2006, it commenced operating a service from
Parkes Parkes may refer to:
* Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation
Named for Henry Parkes
* Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town
* Parkes Observatory, a radi ...
to Perth for
SCT Logistics
SCT Logistics is an Australian interstate transport company operating rail and road haulage, with facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Parkes, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
History
SCT Logistics was founded in 1974 as Specialised Container Tran ...
using Silverton Rail
C class locomotives.
Until 2008, South Spur Rail Services also operated a Restaurant Train service called the
Spirit of the West
Spirit of the West were a Canadian folk rock band from North Vancouver, active from 1983 to 2016. They were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which ma ...
, using
K class locomotive K205 and a number of standard gauge coaches including two hired from
Rail Heritage WA
Rail Heritage WA is the local trading name of the Australian Railway Historical Society (Western Australian Division) Inc.
History
The Western Australian branch of the Australian Railway Historical Society was formed in February 1959. In the 19 ...
.
The company acquired New South Wales railway freight company Silverton Rail in 2006 and renamed it
Southern & Silverton Rail
Southern & Silverton Rail was an Australian rail operator founded in 1886 as the Silverton Tramway Company. The company operated the Silverton Tramway, conveying silver-lead-zinc concentrates from Broken Hill to the South Australian border. ...
,
[ with this subsidiary operating South Spur Rail Services services 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 ...
. In March 2007, the company was sold to Coote Industrial.[ In May 2010, Coote Industrial sold South Spur Rail Services to P&O Trans Australia. P&O was in turn was acquired by Qube Holdings.
]
Fleet
* Mount Goldsworthy A class: A3, A5, A7, A8[Port Kembla – Diesel Locomotive Fleetlisting]
Light Railway Research Society of Australia
* Midland Railway F Class: F40
* K class: K203, K205, K206, K210[South Spur Rail Services]
The Western Australian Railfan Website
* KA class: KA212[
* N class: NA1874
* R Class: R1902][
* ZB class: ZB2120, ZB2125, ZB2129
* 600 class: 602, 603, 607]
References
{{Reflist
Freight railway companies of Australia
Rail transport in Western Australia
1997 establishments in Australia
Qube Holdings