UGL Rail is an Australian rail company specialising in building, maintaining and refurbishing diesel locomotives, diesel and electric multiple units and freight wagons. It is a subsidiary of UGL Limited and is based in Melbourne, with a staff of 1,200 across Australia and Asia. It operates factories in Broadmeadow, Maintrain Auburn, Spotswood and Bassendean. While it used to operate a factory in Taree, the plant was shut down and the equipment sold off. History Founded in Australia in 1899 by Cornish brothers Alfred and Ralph Goninan as an engineering and manufacturing company for the coal industry, A Goninan & Co Limited was incorporated as a public company in 1905. It entered the rail business in 1917 via Commonwealth Steel Products Company of Waratah, Newcastle, a wheel and axle manufacturer, because those items could no longer be imported from Belgium due to World War I. A Goninan & Co moved to more convenient freehold land at Broadmeadow in 1919 and built a flourishing business in general engineering. It made pitheads, boilers, wagons and a huge, cast 41-ton block for the district's coal trade. In October 1964, A Goninan & Co was purchased by Howard Smith. In August 1999, A Goninan & Co was sold to United Group and re-branded United Goninan. In 2005, it was renamed United Group Rail, as part of a reorganisation following United Group's purchase of Alstom's Australian subsidiary, Alstom Transport Australia and New Zealand. Factories While most items were manufactured at Broadmeadow, it did purchase Comeng's Bassendean, Western Australia plant. This plant rebuilt many Pilbara Alco locomotives with General Electric components in the 1990s as well as building 17 Westrail P class and 60 NR class locomotives. In 1983, a factory was established in Townsville to fulfill a contract for Queensland Railways 2600 class locomotives that required them to be built locally. It later built the 2800 class. Products National 14 Australian National EL class diesel locomotives 120 National Rail NR class diesel locomotives 137 C44aci diesel locomotives New South Wales 6 New South Wales 43 class diesel locomotives 20 New South Wales 47 class diesel locomotives 5 stainless steel power vans 150 S set EMU carriages 160 K set EMU carriages 56 C set EMU carriages 455 Tangara EMU carriages 196 Oscar EMU carriages 14 Hunter Railcar DMU carriages 12 QR National 5000 class diesel locomotives 19 QR National 5020 class diesel locomotives Victoria 4 4D