The Western Australian company specialising in remanufacturing and repairing railway locomotives, wagons, and track maintenance equipment will build a new freight wagons manufacturing and repair plant around 1,500 km north of Perth, where it currently has a plant in Forrestfield. Its wagons, each capable of hauling 118 tonnes of iron ore, will be manufactured based on the agreement with CRRC Qiqihar.
With mining giant Rio Tinto investing in 100 new ore wagons over the next six years, Gemco Rail agreed to expand its operations closer to the place of mining. The first 60 wagons will be manufactured in Forrestfield, switching over to Karratha once the plant is up and running. When so, it will become the primary wagon manufacturing and repair facility for Gemco Rail. The first wagons off the production line are expected in 2024. The Karratha plant should build 10 heavy-duty ore wagons per year, which is the usual number of new cars ordered in its fleet replacement cycle to Rio Tinto. The mining company operates over 14,000 freight wagons.
