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The government of Queensland, Australia, recently named Credit Suisse Group AG, Goldman Sachs JBWere, Merrill Lynch, RBS Morgans and UBS AG as joint lead managers for the initial public offering of Queensland Rail (QR).

The IPO — part of the government’s plan to privatize QR — is scheduled for the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, QR recently expanded freight-rail capacity for Gladstone and Bundaberg shippers by increasing “Seafreighter” services to the Port of Brisbane. On March 8, the number of services from Gladstone to Brisbane increased from two to five and the number of services from Bundaberg rose from two to four.

QR recently replaced twice-weekly Seafreighter rail service between Biloela and the port, which also services Gladstone and Bundaberg. Because of low freight-rail volumes from Biloela and short haulage distances to major rail and road hubs, the rail service couldn’t compete with faster, more frequent and lower-cost road transportation, QR officials said in a prepared statement. Now, customers will use a combination of rail and road transport, they said.