Can Aurizon revive a 40-year-old rail line in central Australia?
The group has a grand vision of moving freight from Darwin to Melbourne on trains instead of ships. Importers don’t know if the plan will make financial sense.
Aurizon boss Andrew Harding has one of the trickiest jobs in corporate Australia. The rail freight group that he runs out of Brisbane makes most of its money moving coal, and as the global shift away from fossil fuels gathers momentum, investors fear the company will get stuck with stranded assets.
Harding has been trying to diversify the company away from coal by hauling more bulk commodities such as grain and iron ore. And earlier this year Aurizon signed a $1.8 billion contract with logistics group Team Global Express to rail containerised goods across the continent and up to Brisbane.
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Jenny Wiggins writes on business, specialising in infrastructure, telecommunications and transport. Connect with Jenny on Twitter. Email Jenny at jwiggins@afr.com
