Bowmans Rail value statement
Linking regional business to international markets.
Mission
Contributing to economic growth and social responsibility through safe and reliable short haul rail solutions.
Core Values
We pride ourselves in our strong ethics and core values and we endeavour to identify employees with the same beliefs to foster and grow an organisation we can all be proud to be a part of.
Safety First
Safety is at the heart of our culture because every individual is important and non-negotiable. We foster mutual trust, shared perceptions and the right to all to create a zero-harm environment.
Customer Experience
We strive to provide exceptional customer experience through quality products and services, being adaptable and flexible and providing innovative solutions to customers, developing long term partnerships.
Responsiveness
We react quickly and positively, providing a flexible service that is responsive to changing environments and needs.
Respect
We will always be respectful, considerate, helpful, understanding and empathetic towards each other and people we interact with in our working day.
Collaboratively
We believe in the power of working together, shared knowledge and shared work to complete a common goal as One Team.
Honesty and Integrity
We see honesty as a central part of integrity, which forms the foundations for all our relationships, whether these are with work colleagues, customers or suppliers.
Continuous Improvement
Both for our own professional development and for the services we provide our customers, becoming an ever-better version of ourselves is important to the very core of Bowmans Rail. We are willing to constantly learn, improve and innovate.
Bowmans Rail business overview
Bowmans Rail is SA’s largest independently owned rail and intermodal company, running Australia’s largest inland regional port, the intermodal at Bowmans, near Balaklava; a second intermodal outside Port Augusta and supporting other terminals at Port Pirie and Broken Hill. Its specialised rail service supports the shipment of minerals and agricultural products in containers via rail to Port Adelaide for export and the import of materials for renewables projects in Upper Spencer Gulf.
Bowmans Rail provides regional agriculture, mining and other sectors with an integrated transport service from place of production to world markets via its rail services and two intermodals.
One is Australia’s largest inland regional port, the Bowmans Intermodal, 100km north of Adelaide; the other is just outside Port Augusta and primarily services the Upper Spencer Gulf and Eyre Peninsula.
Our original core business is in serving the resources and agriculture sectors. We also operate short-haul rail services between Bowmans, Broken Hill’s mines and Port Pirie’s processors. These services connect to the inner and outer terminals at the Port of Adelaide and provide interconnections to the Port of Melbourne, providing a key link for mineral exporters.
The Bowmans intermodal provides:
- Mining: containerised import/export service plus large, secure storage capacity
- 20,000 containers p.a. of processed minerals from Broken Hill to Port Adelaide
- 30,000 TEUs p.a. of processed ore on the shuttle route between Port Pirie, Bowmans and Port Adelaide
- Agriculture: hay, grain and specialty pulses
- Road and rail container transfers
- Container fumigation, washing, inspection and repair
- Reefer capacity.
The Port Augusta intermodal provides synchronisation of land transport with the Port; greater efficiency; cost savings; smoother scheduling and better co-ordination and management, benefitting the entire Upper Spencer Gulf and servicing not just agriculture and mining but also the 30-kilometre belt of high-tech energy developments underway or planned in the USG.
This short video explains our approach and our services.
Click to view Bowmans Rail video
Terms & Conditions
Click here to view Bowmans Rail Terms & Conditions
Bowmans Rail history
2000 Bowmans hay and grain site established
2003 Bowmans Intermodal Terminal established with a first hard stand area of 30,000 square metres; rail service begins
2008 Bowmans hardstand expansion
2012 600 Ha zoned industrial at Bowmans site
2013 Bowmans road train Access gazetted
2013 Toll and AMG (now AGT) become shareholders in (then) Bowmans Intermodal
2016 Further hardstand expansion to 40,000 square metres at Bowmans
2016 Bowmans Intermodal changes name to Bowmans Rail to more accurately reflect the future direction of the business
2018 Second intermodal opened, at Port Augusta, adding additional capacity with an emphasis on Upper Spencer Gulf and the Eyre Peninsula
Stirling North
Bowmans Rail Government relations and partnerships
The South Australian Government recognises and supports the strategic value of Bowmans Rail’s intermodal operations at Bowmans and Port Augusta, and our contribution to the operation of the national rail grid.
We work closely with the Government to ensure they are kept abreast of our developments, the contribution we make to assisting the State’s export industries and our role in supporting the development of renewable energy and related projects in the Upper Spencer Gulf.
Bowmans is apolitical in its approach to Government relations and maintains strong working relationships with the South Australian Government and its Departments and Agencies which have direct relevant to our present and future operations.
All Governments support policies of investment, and job creation, and Bowmans is both an investor and an employer.
Specifically, our contribution to South Australia includes:
- Growing advanced manufacturing – through collaborative on zoning and working to help develop mining and agriculture
- Employment and investment – creating more than 100 jobs on site and the investment of $70 million since 2000 supported by a State Government Regional Development Fund Grant
- Export sales – export sales carried by rail to port by Bowmans circa $160 million annually
- Export freight – we have the capacity to handle 50,000 TEU pa.
Community relations and engagement
Bowmans is an advocate of rail freight to reduce pollution, road deaths and traffic congestion – all of which add up to a commitment to the community.
Research carried out by Deloitte Access Economics for the Australasian Railways Association (November 2017) Association foreshadows a potential 88% increase in road freight kilometres by 2050 and about 2.5 million more trucks and light commercial vehicles on the road in the same period. At the same time, private vehicle travel is estimated to increase by 40% - and congestion by an even greater amount. Greater use of rail to replace these truck movements will dramatically reduce congestion in our cities and on our country roads. This value is already being demonstrated via the Bowmans intermodal near Port Augusta where there is community opposition to large trucks in its urban areas.
More broadly, there is community concern about the urban environmental impacts of noise and air pollution; main roads in towns and cities are increasing congested, reducing commuting times, and road transport plays a major part in this problem; trucks are seen as a danger on city roads; and trucks cause congestion around ports.
Traffic congestion
The same research found that road travel is responsible for eight times more accident costs per kilometre than rail; and road freight crash costs are estimated at 14 times more per tonne kilometre than rail.
- Road freight produces 16 times as much carbon pollution as rail freight per tonne kilometre.
- One freight train can replace 110 trucks on the road – so there are benefits in terms of safety and reduced congestion as well.
Future generations will all bear the cost of today’s carbon pollution: the longer we leave it, the more difficult it will be to reduce pollution.
At a regional level, Bowmans also works with the communities where it operates, ensuring social and safety benefits, bringing new jobs, and demonstrating a commitment to a clean environment.
Secure employment in a clean environment generates social wellbeing and, anecdotally, reduces antisocial behaviour.
Moving freight by rail instead of road generates benefits for society of around 1.45 cents per tonne kilometre. This means that, if all road freight moving between Sydney and Melbourne travelled by rail, this would generate social benefits of $111 million a year.
- Every road journey replaced by rail can reduce time spent waiting in traffic by 7-27 minutes.
- A single train is estimated to be able to replace up to 800 cars during peak hour or around 1110 trucks moving freight.
Balaklava main street
Customer Endorsements
Balco Logistics Partner Spotlight - Bowmans Rail, March 2023
Clayton Trengrove, Cristal Mining:
“Bowmans Rail are always receptive to our ideas and proactive in coming up with suggestions to help us grow our business. Communication is of a very high standard.”
Mark Cross, Gilmac:
“Bowmans staff come to see us, so they understand our business. We share our forecasting with them and they are flexible in their operations, like starting a Saturday morning service for us”.
Mark Schilling, AG Schilling & Co:
”Bowmans are customer focused, they ‘get it’. They’re professional, innovative and listen to our ideas. And they’re reliable, even when we have last minute changes they always accommodate them”.
Anthony Yandell, Balco
“For us the service is good, Bowmans Rail staff communicate well and they have taken the time to understand our business. We have developed a good working relationship and we help each other to achieve success outcomes”
Hayden Battle, AGT:
“We never have a problem, even when we make late changes. Bowmans always communicate very well, keep us informed, listen to us, and come up with ideas to help us. Bowmans are reliable and responsive. They’ve got excellent people and even in peak periods their service goes beyond our expectations”.
Alejandro Gómez Díaz-Chirón, Logistics Manager Australia, GreenLight Elecnor Group:
“Thanks for everything and excellent job performance with the trains during Bungala stage 1 and 2. Once again thank for your help to us in both projects because without the train everything would have been more difficult.”
Safety, Environment and Quality compliance
Safety, compliance and respect for the environment are paramount considerations in everything we do. Our record exemplifies the dedication to detail we insist on in every aspect of all our operations.
Bowmans Rail is accredited for
ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems
_5210301-E Certificate of Registration
ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems
_5210301-O Certificate of Registration
ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems
Announcements, Articles & presentations
Port Playford Intermodal Project Presentation at RDAFN forum March 2023
Border Chronicle February 2019
$500,000 boost for Bordertown's new freight handling facility
Border Chronicle 1 Border Chronicle 2
Bowmans Rail Freight Council Presentation 2018
Bowmans Rail Freight Council Presentation
December 2016 - Articles of interest
articles-of-interest-december-2016
September/October 2016 - Article courtesy of Australian Bulk Handling Review
australian-bulk-handling-review-sep-oct-2016
September 2016 - Article courtesy of Railway Digest.
September 2016 - Bowmans Riding Rail to interstate success. Article courtesy of Valerina Changarathil Newscorp Australia
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August 2016 - Intermodal unveils new identity. Article courtesy of The Plains Producer.
intermodal-unveils-new-identity
July 2016 - Biggest Train record broken at Bowmans 200716. Article courtesy of The Plains Producer
biggest-train-record-broken-at-bowmans
June/July 2016 - Industry News Leigh Creek - article courtesy of
June/July 2016 - Article courtesy of Track + Signal
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May 2016 - ICHCA presentation 250516
