QR divides as coal haulage contract war continues

QR will haul up to 5.1 million tonnes of coal each year from Jellinbah East to the port of Gladstone, effective from July 1st.
Jellinbah Resources, which has been serviced by QR for the 22 years the mine has been operating, said the 10-year contract was on "a more commercial basis" than earlier agreements.
QR National already has haulage contracts in place for Jellinbah's Lake Vermont operation and expects tonnage to almost double to 6 million tonnes when the Northern Missing Link rail line is completed.
The rail operator also continues to increase its share of the Hunter coal chain feeding the port of Newcastle.
It now claims to be on track to secure 30 per cent of the Hunter market in 2011/12, up more than 5 per cent from 12 months ago and double what it had three years ago.
However, the market gains in New South Wales come as QR National's share of coal haulage is under pressure in its home state of Queensland.
Pacific National's announcement of a $320 million deal to haul coal for Macarthur Coal and Noble Group is the latest in a series of tit-for-tat deals in both the Queensland and NSW coal markets.
The split sees the coal and freight assets rolled into QR National and the passenger and regional below-rail assets become part of Queensland Rail, which will remain in state government hands.
QR National is to be listed on the Australian Securities Exchange later this year.

QR breaks multiple freight records
For the first time in history, more than 200 million tonnes of freight have been transported across Queensland’s 10,000 kilometre rail network in a year.
QR Network executive general manager Michael Carter said effective partnerships with customers and rail operators including QR National and Asciano across heavy haul, intermodal and general freight markets had led to the record result in 2009/10.
A total of 203 million tonnes of freight was hauled in the year to 30 June 2010.
“At the centre of this achievement is the transport of coal, where an all time record of 186 million tonnes of coal was hauled from central Queensland mines to ports,” Carter said.
“This is an increase of 23 million tonnes over the 2008/09 financial year, the single biggest annual increase ever delivered for the coal industry. This is a momentous achievement, not only for QR Network, but for the coal industry in general."
“It is the result of an unprecedented capital works program by QR Network to support customer demand in Queensland, across the four coal systems of Queensland.
"In the three years to 2009/10, we have invested more than $1.4 billion upgrading and expanding coal rail infrastructure in Queensland.
“We have worked closely with the mining industry to define the right infrastructure to meet their needs and have consistently delivered projects on scope and budget. This is a credit to the work with rail operators and our construction and maintenance service partners.”
QR National also announced it has set new weekly records for hauling coal from mines to ports. In the week 21st to 27th June, QR’s coal business QR National Coal carried 4.2 million tonnes of coal in Queensland, which equates to an annualised 218 million tonnes.
This surpassed the previous Queensland record of 4.1 million tonnes achieved in the week 28th December 2009 to 3rd January 2010.
When tonnages from the Hunter Valley of NSW are included, QR National Coal carried a record 4.5 million tonnes of coal across all its operations in the week starting 21st June, beating the 4.4 million recorded in the week starting 28th December 2009.
QR National Coal executive general manager Marcus McAuliffe said the record continued an improvement in performance by the business in Queensland in recent months.
“In the face of competition, we have set out an ambitious reform agenda for our business. Given the strong global demand for Australian coal, our customers want their tonnes delivered. These results show that we are doing that better than ever before,” McAuliffe said.
“Our reform program spans all aspects of our business - from the services we design to meet the needs of each customer, to our employment of more than 100 new superintendents and supervisors, and the real traction we are achieving through our reliability centred maintenance program.
“These improvements have translated into a succession of weekly records in each of our Queensland coal systems, with the latest set just last week in the Newlands system where 414,000 tonnes of coal was moved.”