UGL/GE 5020 Class

The 5020 class followed the 5000 class as QR National expanded its Hunter Valley coal business. Twenty-five were ordered from UGL in 2010, and their arrival brought a considerable expansion of the Hunter Valley fleet. Unusually, some were built at UGL's Chullora works in Sydney rather than at Broadmeadow, where most UGL locomotives are built.

They're the C44acHi model, a heavy haul variant of the C44aci, and are a further development of the 5000 class with more power. At 180 tonnes they're heavy enough that they're restricted to the Hunter Valley, where they haul coal trains, often in distributed power formation with a 5000 or another 5020 at each end. All 25 remain in service with Aurizon.

References

'QR National 5020 class', Wikipedia (accessed October 2026)
'5020 Class', Railtram Australia (accessed October 2026)
'Aurizon', Wikipedia (accessed October 2026)