Watco Australia Recognized for Customer Service

Watco Australia recently was named a finalist for the 2025 Australasian Rail Industry Customer Service Excellence Award for its achievements with BlueScope Steel at Port Kembla in New South Wales.

The finalists, composed of businesses in Australia and New Zealand, were determined by the Australasian Railway Association. Watco Australia is among seven companies recognized in the Customer Service Excellence category.

A Watco Australia team serves BlueScope’s Port Kembla Steelworks, Australia’s largest manufacturer of flat steel. The team was recognized for boosting internal steel coil transfer capacity and consistently exceeding daily shunting requirements — often doubling them — by leveraging digital twin modeling to expand the plant’s overall shunting (switching) capacity. The team’s recognition also came from having refurbished diesel locomotives to meet increased demand; launching a collaborative safety awareness campaign to reduce pedestrian and vehicle incidents at the factory; and similar accomplishments.

Besides operating the BlueScope Port Kembla train services in New South Wales, Watco Australia handles bulk grain export rail services in Queensland and is the major rail provider of live cattle transport there. The company’s operations in Western Australia include a major intermodal rail container terminal at the Port of Fremantle and inland transfer facilities.