Interail was an Australian rail freight operator owned by QR National. In June 2011 it ceased trading as a separate brand, and became part of QR National (now known as

Aurizon Aurizon ( ) is a freight rail transport company in Australia, formerly named QR National. it was the world’s largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port. Formerly a Queensland Government-owned company, it was privatised and floated o ...

Northern Rivers Railroad

Northern Rivers Railroad was established in 1990 with the intention of running tourist trains on the Casino to Murwillumbah line in northern

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 ...

. Four 421 class locomotives were purchased in 1990 and along with some former South Australian Railways steel and

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 ...

carriages were restored to operational condition at Junee Locomotive Depot before moving to

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

in October 1996. On 22 September 1997, Northern Rivers Railroad commenced operating cement and flyash trains from Grafton to Casino and

Murwillumbah Murwillumbah ( ) is a town in far north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in the Tweed Shire, on the Tweed River. Sitting on the south eastern foothills of the McPherson Range in the Tweed Volcano valley, Murwillumbah is 848 km north-e ...

under sub-contract to

FreightCorp FreightCorp (formally the ''Freight Rail Corporation'') was a railway operator owned by the Government of New South Wales responsible for intrastate and some interstate rail cargo handling from its creation in January 1989 until it was privatis ...

. A 49 class locomotive was hired from FreightCorp for a few months in 1998. In May 1999, a tourist service started operating the ''Ritz Rail'' tourist train between Murwillumbah and Lismore. It also ran to other destinations including

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. In 1999, two 422 class locomotives were purchased from FreightCorp.NSWGR 422/22/FL/HL Class Locomotive
Auscision Models In 2000 Northern Rivers Railroad operated some infrastructure trains in the

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and ...

Sale to QR National

In March 2002, Northern Rivers Railroad was purchased by

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

and rebranded Interail, fulfilling a long held ambition of to expand beyond its state borders. The tourist train was not included. The first contract won by Interail was hauling infrastructure trains on the North Coast line of New South Wales for

Rail Infrastructure Corporation Rail Infrastructure Corporation, later known as Country Rail Infrastructure Authority after July 2010, was a Government of New South Wales statutory corporation with responsibility for the management of the railway network in rural New South Wales, ...

. It was followed by a coal haulage contract from Duralie Colliery to Stratford Mine from March 2003, then haulage of

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The ter ...

between Casino and

from May 2003. Another coal contract in the

was won in late 2003 for the haulage of coal from Newstan Colliery, Fassifern to

Vales Point Power Station Vales Point Power Station is one of two operating coal fired power stations on the shores of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales. Vales Point is located on the southern shore of the lake, near the township of Mannering Park. It has two steam turbines ...

.QR National/Interail
Trent Nicholson Blog In 2004. Interail began running

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

and Sydney to Melbourne intermodal services, in part due to the linehaul needs of

CRT Group CRT Group is an intermodal transport company in Australia. It was founded in 1954 as Colin Rees Transport, a taxi truck company in Sydney. In 1981 it became known as the CRT Group, and by the time of its acquisition by QR National in June 2005 ...

. To operate these extra services two Queensland Railways 1502 class were rebuilt in 2002 as 423s using standard gauge bogies recovered from 49 class locomotives. A further four followed in 2004/05. Two former

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 ...

L class locomotives were acquired from Rail Technical Support Group in 2004. To operate the intermodal services two X class and two G class locomotives were transferred from

Freight Australia Freight Australia was an Australian railway company that purchased the V/Line Freight business from the Government of Victoria in 1999. Initially known as Freight Victoria, it operated rail freight services and controlled non-urban rail track in ...

as part of a deal requiring CRT Group to receive of locomotive power should Freight Australia be sold to a competitor of CRT, which it was when sold to

Pacific National Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses. History In February 2002, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Federal, New South Wales and Victorian Governments) were combined with Freig ...

. Locomotives were also often hired from Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia. Following the formation of QR National in 2004/05, all new business was done under this brand. The ex Freight Australia locomotives carried QR National branding from 2005 as did the last two 423s. In June 2011 it ceased trading as a separate brand, and became part of QR National.Annual Report 30 June 2012
QR National

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Company websiteInterail fleet listing
Defunct railway companies of Australia 1990 establishments in Australia 2011 disestablishments in Australia