Pacific National is the second largest coal haulage operator in Australia, delivering approximately 83 million tonnes of coal per annum by rail to both domestic and export markets.

The coal is hauled from the Hunter Valley and Southern and Western coalfields to the ports of Newcastle and Port Kembla, as well as domestic coal to power stations and steelworks located in NSW. Additionally coal is hauled in South Australia from Leigh Creek to the power station in Port Augusta.

Pacific National carries 93% of New South Wales’s export coal. The annual value of the export coal exceeds $3 billion.

NSW Coal Supply Chain

Pacific National plays a vital role in the New South Wales coal supply chain, working closely with customers, seaboard terminal operators, port authorities and shipping agents to meet cargo assembly requirements. We maintain daily contact with the key operating staff at each link in the coal chain to ensure optimal delivery schedules are achieved.

Through mutual co-operation with our customers and co-service providers we are able to offer efficient haulage services to the coal industry.

Customers

Working closely with key industry participants, Pacific National is committed to providing coal logistics chain capacity requirements. Significant improvements in delivery systems have supported the increasing demand of New South Wales coal and ensured the expectations of our customers are met. Pacific National provides rail haulage services to coal customers in New South Wales and South Australia.

Infrastructure & Assets

Pacific National’s coal operations cover the Hunter Valley and Southern and Western export coal rail networks of New South Wales, and Leigh Creek to Port Augusta in South Australia.

The Hunter Valley rail network comprises over 650km of track varying from four lines to single track with passing loops. Haul distances generally range from 20km to 320km. The Port Kembla and Western coal trains operate over 400km of track. The Leigh Creek to Port Augusta line is a dedicated freight line to the power station at Port Augusta covering 260km.

Coal haulage in New South Wales is typified by high volume/short haul services from load points, loading trains on balloon loops equipped with rapid capacity overhead loading bins. The major Hunter Valley coal loading terminals are capable of loading trains of 91 wagons in length.

To service the haulage demand from our customers, Pacific National deploys over 2350 coal wagons and 100 locomotives. Our largest trains in New South Wales consist of 80 * 120 gross tonne wagons, however, standard train sizes of 53 wagons in the north and 45 wagons in the south are generally used. The 36 trains operated by Pacific National individually deliver between 2,800 and 8,600 tonnes, with a total annual capacity in excess of 93 million tonnes per annum. In South Australia, coal is delivered to the power station at Port Augusta on a one train per day, six trains per week cycle utilising a 161 * 100 gross tonne wagon train – possibly the longest coal train in the world.

The Coal Division also provides terminal management services at the Hunter Bulk Terminal and the Illawarra Bulk Terminal, under long term agreement with the Rail Infrastructure Corporation.

Investing in the Future

Looking beyond natural growth in the task of coal haulage, Pacific National is identifying new customers and opportunities.

In addition to renewing existing business, customers frequently request assistance in the development of rail infrastructure at sites to be developed in the future. Pacific National works closely with these customers to identify rail haulage alternatives, which best suit their needs and Pacific National’s requirement to optimise the capacity of the haulage network. Many of the balloon loops and state of the art train loading equipment in existence at New South Wales coal mines today is as a direct result of our advice on appropriate facilities.

While the principal business of the coal division is the rail haulage of export and domestic coal in New South Wales and South Australia, Pacific National is investigating opportunities which will add additional value to the services we provide. Part of this process is to expand the range of services we offer to include greater involvement in the coal supply chain.