The figures exceed last year’s haulage tonnage and are the biggest amount ever hauled by rail in Australia.
"We have responded well to competition at QR in the belief that the best way to retain and win new business is to improve efficiency," QR's chief executive, Bob Scheuber, said. "The heavy-haul coal export business remains QR's engine room.”
Coal haulage was forecast to grow strongly, reaching 139 Mt in 2005-06. The network links over 30 coal mines to domestic users and to six export terminals.
QR's heavy-haul coal network was in the final stages of a $1.3 billion, 10-year upgrade. The authority had also invested more than $450 million in increasing capacity and improving the efficiency of its rolling stock fleet.
