The company announced that it had commissioned construction of another 90 grain wagons, more than doubling its current capacity of 84 rail wagons.

The wagons have a capacity of 68 tonnes of wheat, meaning a big boost to rail freight capacity.

AWB would not be drawn on how much the wagons will cost, but it is believed to be a significant investment.

It comes after the company was pleased with the operational result of its rail freight business in its first year last season.

With yields expected to be higher over the key catchment area of the business in south-eastern Australia, AWB decided it was a good business opportunity to expand its wagon fleet.

The additional wagons will be delivered early in 2010 and will mean AWB owns four complete grain trains, with one additional train on lease.

AWB’s trains are hauled by specialist freight operator El Zorro.

AWB managing director Gordon Davis said that with five, high capacity and high quality trains running in NSW and Victoria, the company would be well-placed to move significant volumes of grain and utilise the more of the recently upgraded Victorian rail network.

“One of the new trains will run on the Victorian broad gauge lines, with the other configured for standard gauge, although all our new wagons are gauge-convertible,” Mr Davis said.

“The fleet expansion will increase our ability to provide solutions to growers and end-user customers on the east coast of Australia and will enable us to make good use of the Victorian government’s recent investment in the country rail network.

“With additional, high-capacity trains that can make full use of our fast and efficient GrainFlow sites, we can maximise supply chain efficiencies on the east coast to meet the demands of our export and domestic customers.

“In addition to our own sites, El Zorro will operate these trains from other company’s facilities, wherever tonnage is available and rapid, efficient loading and turnaround can be achieved – this latter point is the key to being a competitive freight provider, offering best freight rates to customers and achieving strong fleet utilisation,” Mr Davis said.

AWB did not confirm where it was having the wagons constructed.