I47 Rail Transport

ACCC lashes Aurizon, Pacific National deal

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 25 : 20-Jul-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has launched legal action against Aurizon Holdings and Pacific National in the Federal Court. The ACCC is seeking to block the sale of Aurizon’s Queensland intermodal business and its Acacia Ridge terminal to Pacific National, its main business rival. The total cost of the two deals is $225 million, with Pacific National giving Aurizon a $35 million non-refundable deposit. ACCC chairman Rod Sims has compared the sale to Coles being sold to Woolworths.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, PACIFIC NATIONAL PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, QUBE HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX QUB, QUEENSLAND. COMPETITION AUTHORITY, QUEENSLAND RESOURCES COUNCIL LIMITED, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD

800 Aurizon jobs go amid cost-cutting

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 8-Oct-15

Australian-listed rail freight operator Aurizon Holdings aims to reduce its costs by up to $A380m over the next three years. The group has also flagged the retrenchment of an additional 800 full-time employees in its operations division, which follows the loss of 3,000 jobs over the last five years. Meanwhile, CEO Lance Hockridge says Aurizon may consider acquisitions if the West Pilbara Iron Ore Project is shelved.

CORPORATES
AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, ASCIANO LIMITED – ASX AIO, PACIFIC NATIONAL PTY LTD, BROOKFIELD INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS LP, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, WIGGINS ISLAND COAL EXPORT TERMINAL PTY LTD

Aurizon wins fight over legacy perks

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 4-Sep-15

The Federal Court has upheld a Fair Work Commission ruling terminating perks and job protection clauses in a union agreement with Aurizon, Australia’s biggest rail freight operator. The agreement had been imposed on Aurizon in 2010 when the Bligh Government privatised Queensland Rail. The so-called legacy provisions banned forced redundancies, placed restrictions on hiring and rostering and allowed for free travel for 6,000 employees and their families.

CORPORATES
AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, AUSTRALIAN RAIL, TRAM AND BUS INDUSTRY UNION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Canadians pay up big for Asciano

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1&8 : 19-Aug-15

The board of Asciano has issued a recommendation to investors to accept a takeover offer from Brookfield Infrastructure. Investors will receive $A9.15 a share if the $A8.9 billion bid for the Australian-listed port and rail group is successful. Some fund managers doubt whether losing another Australian company to foreign buyers is in Australia’s interest.

CORPORATES
BROOKFIELD INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS LP, ASCIANO LIMITED – ASX AIO, PATRICK CORPORATION LIMITED, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, TOLL HOLDINGS LIMITED, SABMILLER PLC, JAPAN POST COMPANY LIMITED, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, ARGO INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX ARG, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Pilbara worries cloud Aurizon dividend boost

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 18-Aug-15

Aurizon has reported a 15 per cent rise in underlying net profit after tax to $A604 million. The Australian-listed rail group informed investors on 17 August 2015 that its dividend payout ratio would rise to 70 to 100 per cent of underlying net profits after tax, from 60 to 70 per cent. Coal volumes are expected to remain unchanged between 210 million and 220 million tonnes in 2016 while iron ore volumes are forecast to decline to 24 million tonnes in 2016.

CORPORATES
AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, GVK POWER AND INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED

Commuter says yes: Australia’s CBD workers spot ads on motorways, public transport and office screens

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Mar-15

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey, which was carried out in the year to September 2014, has found that around 70 per cent of Australians aged 14+ who work in the Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane CBD have noticed public transport advertising in the last seven days. This includes ads inside or on the side of buses, trains, ferries and trams, at train stations, on platforms and in shelters. Meanwhile, around 65 per cent of CBD workers in Adelaide and 60 per cent in Perth reported seeing public transport ads in the past week

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ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Ditching car and catching train could save thousands

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Original article by Declan Gooch
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 3 : 20-Jan-15

A report by the Australasian Railways Association highlights Sydney residents’ annual cost savings by commuting via public transport. The report shows that driving a small car from Sutherland to the CBD each day would incur annual running costs of about $A8,000. However, a person without a car who only uses public transport would have travel costs of just $A1,730 each year

CORPORATES
AUSTRALASIAN RAILWAY ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, NRMA LIMITED

Aurizon’s Qld staff to vote on strike action

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 8-Dec-14

The Rail, Tram & Bus Union’s Queensland state secretary Owen Doogan expects Aurizon Holdings staff to vote in favour of protected industrial action over a new enterprise agreement. The ballot closes on 10 December 2014, while an Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Employees ballot closes later in the month. The proposed agreement will enable the rail group to make staff redundant

CORPORATES
AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, AUSTRALIAN RAIL, TRAM AND BUS INDUSTRY UNION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERATED UNION OF LOCOMOTIVE EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Aurizon warns over competition limits

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 23 : 1-Oct-14

The Queensland Competition Authority has ruled that freight rail services operator Aurizon may gain no more than $A4.02bn in annual revenue from its coal haulage assets, compared with the $A4.86bn determination sought by the company. In response to the draft decision, Aurizon has warned of declining maintenance standards for the infrastructure if capital investment has to be curtailed. The final outcome will be known by May 2015

CORPORATES
AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, QUEENSLAND. COMPETITION AUTHORITY