Bowmans Rail

Bowmans Rail
Formerly	Bowmans International
Industry	Logistics
Founded	2003
Founder	Balco; Patrick Corporation
Headquarters	Bowmans, South Australia
Number of locations	Balaklava, South Australia
Key people	Malcolm May (CEO)
Owners	Malcolm May, Vic Hilliard, David Martin, Joseph Hayden
Website	www.bowmansrail.com.au

Bowmans Rail was an Australian railway operator hauling freight in South Australia.

History

Bowmans Rail was founded as Bowmans Intermodal in 2003. It was a joint venture between hay processor and exporter Balco, and logistics operator Patrick Corporation, each owning 50%. A railway terminal was built with a one-kilometre siding was built at Bowmans, South Australia.^[1]^[2]^[3]

in September 2012 Toll Holdings and AGT Foods Australia purchased Patrick's shareholding.^[4]^[5] The company adopted its current name in 2016, when it transported over 36,000 containers annually.^[6]^[7]^[8]

The company operates freight services from Bowmans and Port Pirie to Port Adelaide; conveying lead, hay, grain, pulses, seed, wine and pork bellies, as well as the importation of fish bait.^[5] Since 2016 the company has transported mineral sands for Tronox Mining between Broken Hill and Port Adelaide, and in 2017 intended to commence an Adelaide to Leigh Creek intermodal service for the mining and petroleum industries.^[9]

Bowmans Rail opened a new intermodal terminal near Port Augusta in March 2018. The site was adjacent to the Bungala Solar Power Farm which was under construction and would receive solar panels and other construction materials by rail to reduce the number of trucks accessing the site via unsealed roads. The new terminal on the former Leigh Creek line was expected to handle 2,000 containers per annum.^[10]^[11]

Locomotives and crew were initially provided by the Australian Railroad Group until Rail First Asset Management took over in 2004.^[12]^[13]^[14]

Locomotives

Bowmans Rail hire locomotives from Rail First, below is the list of hired locos:

Formerly with Bowmans Rail Logos:

EL63, GL111, CM3308, CM3309

CFCLA/Rail First Logos as of February 2024:

EL53, EL54, EL55, EL63

References

^ Bowmans About to Start Catch Point issue 151 September 2002 page 5
^ Latest News from Balco Bowmans Catch Point issue 156 July 2003 page 12
^ Regional rail terminal established in SA's mid-north Railway Digest October 2003 page 8
^ Patrick Portlink SA Update Motive Power issue 84 November 2012 page 13
^ ^a ^b Toll and AMG take shares in Bowmans Intermodal Fully Loaded 9 December 2012
^ SA logistics company expands operations Logistics Magazine 25 August 2016
^ Valerina Changarathil (5 September 2016). "Bowmans riding railroad to interstate success". Adelaide Advertiser. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
^ Bowmans Intermodal expands and changes name Track & Signal October 2016 page 52
^ Mark Carter (31 January 2017). "Let's hear it for the little guys". Rail Express. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
^ Green, Amy (15 March 2018). "Port Augusta Intermodal open for business". The Transcontinental. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
^ Bowmans Rail set for solar power Catch Point issue 244 March 2018 page 10
^ Partick Portlink's Bowmans Start Up Catch Point issue 157 September 2003 page 14
^ Partick Portlink's Bowmans Changes Catch Point issue 163 September 2004 page 14
^ Bowmans Rail - Booming Business Catch Point issue 250 March 2019 pages 4-6