A new kind of transport company

For 144 years the drivers, engineers, designers and planners at QR haven’t just been building the world’s leading narrow-gauge railway, they’ve also been helping build the economy of Queensland.

It’s a railway that takes Queenslanders to work and tourists to explore, takes Queensland produce and coal to Australia and the world, and connects regional communities throughout Australia’s most decentralised state.

But QR is also much more than a railway now. Its national expansion strategy began in the late 1990s when National Competition Policy reforms dramatically changed rail in Australia. All the state-owned freight operators except QR were privatised and new local and overseas operators joined the industry.

QR moved into east coast freight and Hunter Valley Coal, then acquired logistics business CRT and West Australian bulk haulier ARG. Today it has a full national network from Cairns to Perth, and an increasingly diversified range of businesses.

A new team

QR is now in the next stage of its evolution. Under the leadership of chairman John Prescott and CEO Lance Hockridge, a new and highly experienced management team has been put in place, with the capacity to take QR into the future.

At the same time, a restructure of the business units and support units and a Transformation program across the company are making it more competitive and more profitable.

A new outlook

In the past year there have been major new business wins like coal customers Peabody and Felix, and a major capital program including infrastructure projects, new locomotives and new rolling stock is under way.

QR is now a company with $12 billion in assets and 15,000 people working around Australia in the freight, logistics, passenger and infrastructure sectors, generating over $3.5 billion in annual revenue.