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What we do

Carmichael Rail Network

Our network opens up a world of jobs and opportunities for mining in the resource-rich Galilee Basin.

Rail Provisioning Yard

Rail Provisioning Yard

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1 Office buildings

Located in our office buildings are our operations and maintenance personnel. Our team operates from these buildings 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to ensure our crew have the support that they need.

2 Storage

Maintaining trains requires a number of inventory spares and lubricants - our storage has been securely established to ensure we can effectively continue to run our trains at maximum efficiency.

3 Provisioning line

The provisioning line provides access for our trains, enabling our team to provision and complete maintenance prior to a train departing for its next cycle. Provisioning includes fuel, sand, water, engine oil and train checks.

4 Shunting and storage line

The shunting and storage line allows our yard to hold additional train sets when they come in for maintenance. This line also enables our team to complete shunting activities for both wagons and locomotives.

5 Maintenance line

The maintenance line is where both locomotives and wagons are delivered. This allows our maintenance team to complete more extensive maintenance and inspections, in accordance with our maintenance cycles.

6 Wagon maintenance area

Our wagons require maintenance and as such on occasion we remove them for service. This allows our maintainers to complete servicing activities quickly and efficiently.

7 Third party network

The third-party network is our mainline access enabling our trains to head back to train loadout for loading once they have completed their maintenance.

8 Rail service track

The rail service track enables our maintenance, operations, infrastructure and signaling teams to gain access to our trains and railway.

9 Loco maintenance area

Our locomotives require maintenance and as such on occasion we remove them from the track to allow our maintainers to complete servicing activities.

The approximately 200km Carmichael Rail Network safely and efficiently connects Queensland’s high-quality exports to the world through the North Queensland Export Terminal. 

What we do

The Bowen Rail Company’s Carmichael Rail Network is a critical link between Queensland’s rich coal resources in the Galilee Basin and Australia’s most northerly coal export port. The approximately 200km narrow gauge railway is a new rail network that links up with existing rail infrastructure to the North Queensland Export Terminal.

What we do

The Network

The Bowen Rail Company’s next-generation train fleet operates on the network to service its foundation customer, the Carmichael Mine, providing a true pit-to-port service. The Carmichael Rail Network is designed to take 26.5 ton Axle load operating at a maximum speed of 80km/hr. The Network is constructed to meet the demands of its founding customer (10mtpa) and is designed to be able to incrementally expand if required.

The approximately 200-kilometre Carmichael Rail Network joins into the existing rail network near Collinsville in central Queensland.

Approximately six trains run on the Carmichael Rail Network each day. One round trip from the Carmichael Mine to the North Queensland Export Terminal will take approximately 24 hours including loading and unloading time.

We are proud to be headquartered in Bowen in North Queensland as part of a highly skilled rail and resources industry.


Building a new rail network

The Carmichael Rail Network was built over approximately two years and includes 319,000 Australian made concrete sleepers and approximately 26,000 tonnes of steel rail. The project required the construction of some 25 bridge crossings, 23 over waterways, two passing loops and 460 culverts.

The Bowen Rail Company has engaged Rockhampton’s Rhomberg Rail to perform track maintenance on the Carmichael Rail Network and its Provisioning Yard to ensure its world-class condition is maintained. The partnership is another example of the Bowen Rail Company’s commitment to supporting local jobs and industry in regional Queensland.

Building a new rail network

Stats

200km

Length

319k

Locally made concrete sleepers

26,000

Tonnes of Australian steel

1,200

Jobs during construction

Coal haulage in the Galilee Basin

The 247,000 square kilometre Galilee Basin is a thermal coal basin in central Queensland located about 200km west of the Bowen Basin, extending north past Hughenden, south to Charleville and west beyond Winton and Middleton.

The Carmichael Mine is the first mine to be developed in the Galilee Basin, and it will produce 10 million tonnes per annum of high-quality coal that will be used to generate affordable and reliable electricity for communities in India and South-East Asia. The coal will be railed 200kms along the Carmichael Rail line and a further 100km along existing rail infrastructure to the North Queensland Export Terminal, 25kms north of Bowen.

The 247,000 square kilometre Galilee Basin is a thermal coal basin in central Queensland located about 200km west of the Bowen Basin

The completion of the railway opens up the Galilee Basin for further development as it is now more efficient and cost effective for prospective mining companies to transport coal for export to the North Queensland Export terminal. The future potential of the region will ensure more jobs and opportunities for Queenslanders.

Our coal haulage operations in the Galilee Basin are safe, environmentally responsible and efficient as we combine world-leading technology with clever solutions to create world class operations.

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