QR National proposes name change to Aurizon

[ozbob]

http://www.qrnational.com.au/MediaCentre/MediaReleases/Pages/QRNationalproposesnamechangetoAurizon.aspx

QR National proposes name change to Aurizon

17 September 2012

The nation's largest rail freight group QR National Limited today announced a proposal to change the company's name to Aurizon Limited.

Shareholders will be asked to approve the name change at the Company's Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Brisbane on November 7.

QR National Managing Director & CEO Lance Hockridge said the name change was the logical next step in the company's transformation to becoming a world-class operator.

The new name is a combination of Australia and Horizon. It conveys the geographical scope of our expanding operations, as well as the extraordinary growth opportunities that are on the horizon for the company.

Mr Hockridge said the use of the "QR" prefix had been critical to the success of QR National's structural separation from Queensland Rail and the subsequent listing on the ASX in 2010, however significant confusion had persisted among stakeholders of the two organisations.

"The similarities in our company names have made it difficult for financial market participants, different levels of government, the media and the general public to distinguish between the services offered by each company," he said.

"We believe changing the company name will help address this problem and signify a symbolic break from legacy issues of the past, while still retaining the history and knowledge that has served our company so well over the past 147 years.

"While our Queensland operations will always be the company's foundation asset, and intrinsically tied to our future success, this new name makes a clear statement about our growing Australia-wide footprint and growth aspirations."

Under the proposal the company's logo and corporate colours would remain unchanged to preserve brand equity.

If shareholders approve the name change at the AGM, the company's ASX code will become AZJ as at December 1, 2012.

A Notice of Meeting outlining the items of business for the AGM will be sent to shareholders this week.

For further details:

External Relations & Communications

Email:   media@qrnational.com.au   

[HappyTrainGuy]

Time for another a new paint job on the new locos to remove a few words

Might also explain why some locos are only getting the QR National logos put on them instead of the logo + name combo.

[ozbob]

From the Warrego Watchman (Cunnamulla) 27th September 2012 page 4

DOUBTS ABOUT NAME CHANGE

DOUBTS ABOUT NAME CHANGE

QR National customers say leopard can't change its spots

INA bid to ditch the baggage ot its uneven past, QR National wants to change its name to Aurizon, But southwestern businesses that rely on the freight company say a name change is unlikely to make much difference to the service.

Cunnamulla supermarket owner Rick Brain, who as a Paroo councillor holds the portfolio for rail issues, said he was obliged to use QR as it was the only freight company with chillers for delivering fruit, vegetables and frozen goods to the west. But since the company cancelled trains services to Cunnamulla in December 2010 and switched to trucks, the service was often late, he said. "I arrange for staff to be in the shop at 8.30am when the goods are supposed to arrive but a few months ago they didn't arrive until 3pm," he said. "My staff have children and they need to leave to pick them up from school so my wife and I had to stay back to lOpm to unpack the stock."

Rick was told a few days later that QR National had started using a roaming vehicle that loops through Cunnamulla, Charleville, Roma and St George. "They said it wasn't economical to run the trucks out of the depot and that they needed to make a business decision but they don't realise that their business decisions effect my business."

Rick said his stock was sent once to IGA in Chinchilla. "QR National had no idea where it went and it wasn't until the one of the shop assistants from IGA called me up that we knew where if was. QR National tried to make me pay for the stock but I said I didn't have it and I wouldn't pay.

"I didn't even get a delivery form so they had to go through all the CCTV footage from the warehouse to figure what had been sent. It's a shame- but there's no other option. If they weren't owned by the government they'd be out of business. A leopard can't change it spots and QR National are pretty bloody spotty. They're going to have to do more than just change they're name."

QR National CEO Lance Hockridge in a statement announcing the change said Aurizon was a combination of Horizon and Australia and symbolised the company's national focus. Three overseas companies already use the name, Aurizon Mines in Canada mine gold, Aurizon Ultrasonic in the US makes die cutting and bonding equipment and British Aurizon makes ear drops for dogs. While the state government still. owns 34% Of the listed company, said the move would also signify a break with Queensland Rail.

"The similarities in our company names have made it difficult for financial market participants, different levels of government, the media and the general public to distinguish between the services offered by each company," he said.

"We believe changing the company name will help address this problem and signify a symbolic break from legacy issues of the past, while still retaining the history and knowledge that has served our company so well over the past 147 years."

Quilpie grocer Trevor Meade is having similar problems to Rick Brain. He reckons the company has forgotten it roots, favouring larger interstate contracts and overlooking the little guy. "They used to send sales reps out here all the time to drum up business, but I haven't seen them for years."

Trevor received a letter from QR National two weeks ago informing him their rates were going up. Stock carted within Brisbane and along the coast will see a 2.17% increase, interstate transport will go up 2.86% while an yone west of the range will be charged an extra 4.25%. Trevor's shop has been working with QR since his father opened the store back in 1948 but he reckons the company is discriminating against customers in the bush.

"I've seen some pretty severe rate increases but this is ridiculous, I think they couldn't care less about us."

USQ marketing expert Jane Summers said history was littered with companies that failed to shake off bad images with superficial name changes. "Unless the company addresses the core issues that lead to their customer's dissatisfaction, changing a brand won't work," she said.

"First, they needed to understand why people have had a negative experience with the company and, secondly, is it even possible to change those experiences? The company needs to undergo internal changes so that they can deliver on the promise of the new brand."

Shareholders will vote on the name change at the next annual general meeting on 7 November.

MICHAEL NOLAN

[Stillwater]

The state government must revisit this issue, possibly involving a Westlander freight solution, which would allow for regular delivery times.  The article sums up the problems pretty well.  This site has recorded the difficulty experienced by other traders out West.  For instance, the local Retravision store owner experiences 10 per cent damage to the whitegoods he has delivered by road; and he never knows when the truck is coming.  It costs him to hire staff to pack the damaged product again, and his customers are inconvenienced by not getting the fridge or stove they had bought.  That cuts into his profits, or he must charge people more for the stuff he sells.

South-West Queensland will undergo a resurgence due to mining activity there, and the big rains earlier this year and last have caused the grass to grow as high as an elephant's eye.  The beef cattle industry has kicked along again.

City folk understand that if they are to put bread and beef on the table, their country cousins must have the infrastructure and reliability of service to live where they live and be able to transport product to market efficiently.

Proper freight transport services to country towns are 'front line services.'

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> QR National rebranded to end QR confusion

[ozbob]

Smart Company --> When branding goes wrong: Why Aurizon's made-up name is a mistake

[mufreight]

Well it will make things interesting for the enthusiasts, no doubt Mr Hockridge and company will want a new image to go with the new name so we may well see four different colour schemes on locos, 1720's still in QR blue mainline locos in Broncos colour scheme and in the Pineapple colour scheme and then whatever the new livery will be.

[SurfRail]

I don't have a problem with it.  The comparisons in the article Bob posted above have to do with consumer products.  Mr Smith down the road doesn't wake up one day and decide to export 20mtpa of coal or nickel, and if he did he wouldn't choose his rail service by its name.

The point is to get the numpties in the gen pop to stop phoning the wrong organisation for enquiries or assistance.

[ozbob]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/railwaysymphony/8209996181/

[mch]

While the name is not much, it is better than QR National.
I mean that it was embarrassing for the media talking about them with a picture of a passenger train as the header for the article.

Another blunder by the Bligh government.

They did not understand the complexity of the requirements for a sane and orderly split even though they had been in government for over 10 years.

[HappyTrainGuy]

I mean that it was embarrassing for the media talking about them with a picture of a passenger train as the header for the article.

Well, that's the fault of the media for incorrectly reporting issues. I could say CM is pretty much anti rail but that's not the reason. Since the decline of newspapers with more online content pushing out stories quicker they are relying heavily on file footage nation wide (Not just limited to News Limited - TV news footage is guilty too by reusing footage in stories) and tags get outdated as things change such as parts of QR getting privitised. There was one photo they used earlier in the year with an EMU missing the anti climb device on a model that was the first to have them installed back in 2001, photos of EMUs with grey doors - a story published yesterday for instance http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/moreton/rail-back-on-track-calls-for-caboolture-rail-line-fix-or-commuter-compensation-from-queensland-rail/story-fn8m0yu3-1226522257814 and last year they ran a story about traveltrain with a photo of an ETT in its old grey and maroon livery. When was the last time you saw one of the few modified SMU220 now unmodified running around with HS on the front. Yet it still gets used by the CM when there is a train related story or delay.

They did not understand the complexity of the requirements for a sane and orderly split even though they had been in government for over 10 years.

It was a pretty easy split without having to go through the massive expense of reorganising and rebranding the side they were off loading. All they did was privitise the QR National division and split up responsibilities of QR Network and QR Services. For instance the Banyo level crossing incident a few months ago had QR guys doing the overhead works and track/infrastructure related work while QR National/Aurizon crews went to town seperating the truck from the train and cutting up the front/underneath of the EMU with blow torches (Apparently the QR guys weren't happy with that due to all the wiring thats at the front). What most people don't know was that back in roughly 2004 I think it was... maybe 2003 QR was split up into different divisions while under the same overall Queensland Rail banner.
QR Passenger - TravelTrain/CityTrain/TouristTrain/Heritage/Mayne MTCE etc.
QR Network - Queensland UTC state wide (there are some exclusions ie private lines/depots which have their own setups), interstate services etc.
QR Services - Rollingstock and component services ie citytrain refurbs, diesel loco work, coal wagons, overhauls and what not at Redbank and depots around the nation. Also included Infrastructure/engineering projects and services nation wide ie track grinding/work machines, other operator consultations, track duplication and upgrade projects etc.
QR National - Coal transport in Queensland and NSW also including intermodal transport nation wide, grain/sugar/cement trains, ARG in WA, CRT and all the other railway and truck freight operators they acquired and bought out over the years. In 2008 it was spilt into QR Coal and QR Freight due to the size of the different operations but still operated under the QR National banner.