Xstrata Brings Hunter Valley Coal Haulage In-House

Tired of the bottlenecks at the Port of Newcastle Xstrata has decided to use its own coal trains in Hunter Valley. The company will spend $130 million procuring three coal trains to start Xstrata Rail. The Swizz based mining company is hoping to haul 12 million tonnes of coal per year with its three train fleet.

The Chief Executive of Xstrata Coal Peter Freyberg unveiled the Xstrata Rail outfit at the Mount Owen coal mine in Hebden. He said that the trains would run as a subsidiary of the privatised British Rail company Freightliner. The trains would start running early next year using Ulan, Mangoola, Liddell, Ravensworth, Mount Owen, Bulga and Teralba as seven load points.

Mr Freyberg speaking at the occasion said that 10 locomotives were bought from UGL and 300 wagons came from Newcastle firm Bradken. Each train could haul 9,000 tonnes of coal. The three trains would be able to handle one third of Xstrata's Hunter Valley coal output.