QR Corporate

QR Reaches Key Milestone In Sale Process

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:37:14 GMT

A major milestone has been reached in the sale process for QR with completion of staff placement for more than 16,000 employees throughout Australia.

QR Chief Executive Officer Lance Hockridge said current staff had either been allocated to the new government owned passenger rail business to be called Queensland Rail or to the freight and coal business which will be called QR National and floated on the stock exchange later this year.

"We are setting both companies up to help drive future growth and success," Mr Hockridge said.

"We believe they need the right assets, the right resources and most importantly the right people.

"While we appreciate change can be difficult, the feedback from staff to date has been positive."

Mr Hockridge said while final numbers were still to be determined at the close of the process on Friday QR National had an employee base of approximately 9,350 and Queensland Rail 6,850.

"Approximately 3,460 staff were offered a transfer to Queensland Rail, which is on target to be established by 1 July this year," Mr Hockridge said.

"As of this morning more than 98% or approximately 3,375 staff had accepted offers for roles in Queensland Rail, with only 19 rejections and about 60 offers still pending.

"This is a positive result and one which we believe will help deliver a dedicated passenger and network business with an enhanced focus on service delivery and customer satisfaction to meet the growing demand for public transport in south east and regional Queensland.

"The balance of QR's 16,000-strong workforce will be employed by QR National, which will be an Australia-wide freight transport and logistics business."

Mr Hockridge said he was pleased with the outstanding rate of acceptances from staff.

"From day one, we've made every reasonable effort to communicate and consult with staff about the changes to this iconic Queensland company," Mr Hockridge said.

"What's happening now is all about positioning the new companies for growth and success in the future.

"Over the past five years, the number of employees at QR has grown from 13,000 to more than 16,000, freight tonnages have grown by approximately 54% and passenger numbers by 34%.

"We are a growing national business and the establishment of these two new companies will help provide the foundation for future expansion and jobs growth."

Mr Hockridge will address staff from across Queensland this week as he visits major rail sites in Brisbane and regional centres, providing an update on progress on the creation of Queensland Rail and QR National. This follows a similar staff roadshow in December.

QR CHAIR AND CEO WELCOME SALE DECISION

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:25:18 GMT

QR Chair John Prescott and CEO Lance Hockridge welcomed the announcement today by the Queensland Government on the future sale structure of QR.

Premier Bligh announced that the State Government will retain ownership of the passenger service business and assets, including ownership of the metropolitan rail networks. They will also retain regional freight networks and associated operations. A new Government Owned Corporation (GOC) to manage this part of the business will be established - called Queensland Rail.

Ms Bligh also announced that all aspects of QR's current commercial operations including coal, freight, services and parts of network will be sold via an IPO on the Australian Stock Exchange as a vertically integrated, multi-freight transport logistics enterprise - called QR National. Full details of announcement available at http://www.qld.gov.au/assetssale/

"This is a decision for Government but one that makes sense," Mr Prescott said.

"We have a growing national footprint in freight operations with businesses in Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria.

"We are no longer restricted by the State border and to operate against our national and international competitors we need to be able to compete on a level playing field without the restrictions of government ownership."

Mr Prescott said he expected the sale process would generate many new exciting expansion opportunities for staff and the various businesses in freight operations.

"Unfortunately there may be some initial uncertainty and confusion for our staff over the sale process, but I am extremely confident that it is their talent and capability that will be most attractive to potential investors," he said.

"Our freight operations are a strong and expanding business and I expect the sale to create more avenues for growth and opportunities for new jobs."

Mr Prescott said at the point of listing expected in the last quarter of 2010, he expected strong market interest.

"We are Australia's largest rail operator with high quality assets and world class talent and expertise," he said.

"In the past 18 months we have put a world class management team in place, building our capabilities in each of the businesses in areas such as capital productivity, sales and marketing, procurement and operations.

"We have mapped a clearly defined strategy to become a truly great Australian company - a world leader in rail and transport."

Mr Hockridge said QR now had the opportunity to truly deliver on the extraordinary potential of the organisation in terms of business growth, financial success and job security for employees.

"The reality is that around the world, the most vibrant and successful freight railways are private owned and vertically integrated," he said.

"Competition on these railways is strong and driven by market forces with access facilitated and regulated by legislated access regimes.

"The outcome is good for employees, good for customers, good for shareholders and good for economies."

Mr Hockridge said the company was vital part of the social and community fabric of Queensland.

"We have been operating in Queensland for more than 140 years and we will continue to play a vital role in shaping the future growth and development of this State."

Mr Hockridge said he would consult closely with stakeholders during the sale process.

"While the Government has indicated different futures for different parts of our organisation they share a common mission - to operate safely, to grow and to provide the best possible service for new and existing customers," he said.

"We have already identified a clear path for growth and I am excited about delivering on that for the benefit of our employees, our customers and our new owners."

John Prescott AC has been Chairman of QR since July, 2006. He served BHP (now BHP Billiton) for more than 40 years, and was the company's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer between 1991 and 1998.

Lance Hockridge has been CEO of QR since November 2007. He most recently served as President North America of BlueScope Steel and has held various senior transport, operational, manufacturing and human resource roles. He has played a key role in building the management capability of QR.

QR Statement on progress with the Riverlink pedestrian bridge at Ipswich

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:31:00 GMT

Construction of the Riverlink pedestrian bridge is the legal responsibility of Leda Holdings as the developer, and Ipswich City Council is the assessment manager responsible for ensuring compliance with development conditions.

The extent of QR's role is to ensure that the pedestrian bridge is structurally sound when attached to the existing heritage rail bridge.

Last week QR participated in a meeting with the Ipswich City Council and Leda. QR is continuing to progress this issue in an efficient way, and in good faith.

The outstanding issues are:

Ensuring the structural integrity of the pedestrian bridge design. QR is waiting for Leda to provide the final certified design.
Insurance of the pedestrian bridge. QR, Leda and Ipswich City Council are progressing adequate insurance arrangements between all parties to allow the Construction Licence to be finalised and construction of the bridge to commence.
Costs. QR is working through outstanding costs with Leda so that QR recovers costs associated with this bridge. However our focus is currently on getting this bridge delivered for the community.

QR moves to address health concerns at Jilalan

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:55:00 GMT

QR is talking with employees at the Jilalan Rollingstock Maintenance Depot (RMD) at Sarina today to discuss concerns about cancer frequency rates.

The Rail Tram & Bus Union has recently raised concerns that nine current and former RMD employees have been diagnosed with cancer in the past 20 years, with four of these in the past three years.

QR has brought in Queensland Health to provide expert advice and to ensure the investigation follows Queensland Health guidelines.

QR has also engaged the services of Associate Professor Tim Driscoll, an independent medical expert to provide further independent advice.

Associate Professor Driscoll has experience in numerous cancer cluster investigations on varying sizes. He is currently working on two other cancer cluster investigations. He has a PHD in epidemiology and specialises in Occupational Medicine and Public Health Medicine.

A cluster is defined as a greater-than-expected number of cancer cases within a group of people in a particular geographic area over a period of time.

Queensland Health responds to around 20 such enquiries a year.

Local QR management and senior HR staff are meeting with staff today at Jilalan depot.

"We are briefing staff on the process and asking them for any information that may be useful to Queensland Health in assessing the situation," QR National Coal Manager for Organisational Capability, Tom Wiltshire said.

"An important part of this process is ensuring everyone has all the information and the facts available. This not only includes support from QR but expert advice from health professionals who understand these issues.

The assessment of information from employees is the first stage of the Queensland Health process of investigating if a cancer cluster exists.

"The health and wellbeing of our people is our top priority. This matter is being taken very seriously and we are committed to working with employees and unions," Mr Wiltshire said.

"We are inviting their full involvement in the process to ensure we address concerns.

"Queensland Health was brought in to provide expert advice and guidance on the best approach to take."

"We are absolutely committed to a safe working environment and zero work-related illnesses.

"We will also establish a local reference group, with representatives from the workforce, unions, QR and the community.

"As the independent expert, Associate Professor Driscoll will regularly report back to this group, answering any questions that arise and also listening to local feedback.

"While our primary focus is our staff, we understand there could be broader community interest and we want to ensure everyone is well informed."

"There are many things which can cause cancer and we want to be absolutely sure that nothing in the workplace has contributed to these cases of cancer."

South West Queenslanders part of winning Silver Spike team

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:36:00 GMT

An All Star team of railway workers from across the state have taken out this year's Silver Spike after laying 13 metres of track in little more than six minutes.

Toowoomba's Andrew Crawford and Roma's Lloyd Woodhouse were members of the winning team.

QR's Silver Spike competition is one of the traditional highlights of the Ekka, held at Brisbane's RNA Showgrounds.

QR's acting Chief Executive Officer John Stephens, said the competitors demonstrated the importance of working together safely as a team.

"When we started this competition 17 years ago, it took winning teams almost 12 minutes to build a section of track and operate a pump car along its length," Mr Stephens said.

"Since then we've brought in time penalties to ensure teams compete safely, and the average time has dropped by more than half.

"It shows when people work together, and demonstrating team work and a shared goal, they can safely perform any task.

"That's incredibly important for our company and our employees, whether they're competing at the Ekka or working in outback Queensland maintaining our track."

The finals were fought between the North Queensland team and the All Stars team, made up of competitors from around the state.

Competitor Brett Whiteing from the North Queensland team said this year's competition had been a closely fought affair.

"When you're competing against workmates, whether from your region or from other areas in the state, it gives the competition a bit of added performance," Mr Whiteing said.

Mr Stephens said the Silver Spike competition showcased QR's capability and unique history in Queensland.

"We've been operating in this state for 146 years, in fact our operations helped to build many of the cities and towns in regional Queensland.

"We're proud to be able to give back to the communities in which we operate and showcase our history at the same time."

The winning team also included Will Kelly (Mareeba), Cameron Hussey, (Mackay), Todd Mathews (Brisbane), and Wayne Allen (Gayndah).