Great Southern Rail (Australia)

Industry Railway operator
Founded 1 November 1997
Key people
 Chris Tallent, CEO (January 2012 - )
Parent Allegro Funds
Website www.greatsouthernrail.com.au
The Overland at Southern Cross station in February 2009

Great Southern Rail (GSR) is an interstate passenger train operator in Australia. Formed on November 1, 1997, it is a subsidiary of Allegro Funds.

History

As part of the privatisation of Australian National, on 1 November 1997, The Ghan, Indian Pacific and The Overland were sold to Great Southern Rail, a consortium of GB Railways, Legal & General, Macquarie Bank, RailAmerica, G13 Pty Ltd[1] and Serco.[2] Included were 186 items of rolling stock, primarily stainless steel carriages and the Adelaide and Alice Springs stations.[3] In October 1999, Serco bought all the shares from its consortium partners.[4][5]

While the former two services are profitable, the operation of The Overland is subsidised by the Victorian and South Australian governments.[6]

GSR reduced costs by renegotiating staff pay and conditions, and increased revenues by extending the Ghan, which originally ran from Adelaide to Alice Springs, so that it ran once each week from Sydney and once each week from Melbourne. With completion of the railway from Alice Springs to Darwin, the Ghan now runs from Adelaide to Darwin. While GSR owns the passenger car fleet, Pacific National provides motive power for the services.

The Southern Spirit was a luxury cruising train service, launched by Great Southern Rail on 17 June 2008, with the inaugural service running on 25 November 2008.[7] It last ran in February 2012.

In November 2014, Serco announced its intention to sell the business.[8] In March 2015, it was sold to Allegro Funds.[9][10]

References

  1. ↑ G13 Pty Ltd
  2. ↑ Great Southern Railway Consortium completes acquisition of Australian National Railways Passenger Business Serco 31 October 1997
  3. ↑ "Goodbye AN Passenger, Hello Great Southern Railway" Railway Digest December 1997 page 7
  4. ↑ About Us Great Southern Rail
  5. ↑ "Serco Takes Full Control of GSR" Railway Digest January 2000 page 7
  6. ↑ "Letter from John McMillan, Director of Public Transport, Victoria, to Margaret Arblaster, ACCC" (PDF). 2001. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "Great Southern Rail launches new luxury rail cruise The Southern Spirit". 17 June 2008. Archived from the original on 22 July 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  8. ↑ Update on Serco's Strategy Review Serco 10 November 2014
  9. ↑ "Allegro Funds buys Great Southern Rail from Serco". Sydney Morning Herald. 30 March 2015.
  10. ↑ Great Southern Rail to be bought by Allegro in high-end tourism push ABC News 30 March 2015
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