Our Story
Some industries move fast.
Rail procurement wasn't one of them.
We spent years working in Australia's rail industry. We knew the frustration firsthand. So instead of waiting for someone else to fix it, we built the platform ourselves.
Where it began
It started with one very long phone call.
Andrew was tracking down a specific part for a project. He found the US manufacturer, dug around to identify the Australian distributor, and when he finally got someone on the phone — they didn't even know they stocked it.
What followed was a quote request, a trade account application, and three more days of back-and-forth before he could actually place an order. For one part.
The thing is, it wasn't a one-off. That's just how procurement worked in the rail industry — slow, fragmented, and heavily reliant on knowing the right person to call. If you didn't have the contact, you were starting from scratch every time.
Meanwhile, you could order almost anything else online and have it at your door by the next morning. The gap was hard to ignore. And eventually, it became impossible to justify.
"It's 2026. You can order almost anything online and have it at your door the next day. Why should sourcing a rail part still involve three days and five phone calls?"
Andrew Maxwell, Co-Founder
The people behind it
We're not tech people who discovered rail. We're rail people who figured out the tech.
That distinction matters. Rail Depot Direct wasn't built in a startup studio by people who'd never set foot on a worksite. It was built by two brothers who grew up around engineering, spent careers working in the industry, and understood the problem because they'd lived it.
Andrew Maxwell
Co-Founder
A Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ) and Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng), Andrew brings over 20 years of experience across mechanical engineering, project management, and manufacturing — including six years working internationally in the US.
Since taking over Gold Creek Engineers in 2017, he's built deep relationships across Australia's rail, mining, and energy supply chains. He brings the technical credibility, industry knowledge, and supplier network that underpins everything Rail Depot Direct does.
Mark Maxwell
Co-Founder
Mark is a mechanical engineer with hands-on rolling stock experience across Queensland. His most formative project was the full refurbishment of a Track Tamping Machine in Tully, Far North Queensland — stripping the machine back to its bare chassis and rebuilding it from the ground up.
That job meant talking to hundreds of separate suppliers just to source the parts needed. It gave him an up-close view of exactly how broken rail procurement was — and the clarity that something better was long overdue.
Between us, we've been on both sides of the counter — buying parts, specifying components, managing projects, and working with suppliers across Australia. We understand the world our customers work in because we've worked in it ourselves. That's not a marketing line. It's why we built this.
The old way
Procurement that hadn't changed in decades.
Before Rail Depot Direct, sourcing parts for a rail project meant working your contacts, hunting through PDF catalogues, chasing sales reps, and filling out trade account applications before you could even see a price.
For big-ticket items, there were established relationships and formal processes. But for the everyday stuff — tools, consumables, measuring equipment, maintenance supplies — there was no single place to go. You used whoever you'd always used, or you spent hours trying to find an alternative.
A whole generation of procurement officers and engineers now opens Google the moment they need to buy something. When they searched for rail-specific products, they found nothing built for them. That was the gap we set out to fill.
How we do things differently
A platform built around how rail people actually work.
Verified suppliers only
Every supplier on the platform is a registered Australian business with a confirmed ABN, appropriate insurance coverage, and products we'd confidently buy ourselves. No unknown overseas sellers. No dropshippers. Real businesses with real accountability.
Rail-specific by design
Every product listed belongs in a rail workshop, alongside a track, or on rolling stock. We're not a general industrial catalogue with a rail filter applied. If it doesn't belong in this industry, it doesn't belong on this platform. That focus is what makes us useful.
Built to save time
Browse, compare, and purchase from multiple suppliers in a single checkout. Transparent pricing upfront. Compliance documents attached to every listing. No trade account applications, no quote requests for everyday items, no chasing callbacks that never come.
Proof it resonated
The conversation that stuck with us.
Industry validation
AusRAIL 2024
Industry Conference
Australia
"I can't believe something like this doesn't already exist."
At AusRAIL, we got talking to a contractor about what we were building. He didn't need to think about it. Before we'd even finished explaining, he said he couldn't believe something like this didn't exist already.
He painted a picture that's stayed with us: a mechanic sitting in front of the TV on a Friday night, ordering the parts he needs for Monday's job — same as he'd order anything else online. No waiting until the sales rep is back in the office. No scrambling on-site when something's missing. Just done.
That story wasn't unique to him. At every stage of building Rail Depot Direct — from early conversations with suppliers to discussions with major network operators — we've heard the same thing. The appetite for a better way has always been there. It just needed someone to build the platform.
The timing
Australia's rail industry is growing fast. Its procurement tools weren't keeping up.
Australia is in the middle of a significant rail investment pipeline. Major infrastructure projects are underway across multiple states, networks are expanding, and there are ageing assets that need maintaining. The volume of procurement happening right now is substantial — and it's only going to grow.
Yet the industry has been slower to digitise than almost any other sector. The way rail businesses buy things today looks much like it did twenty years ago: relationships, phone calls, and manual processes that create friction at every step.
Rail Depot Direct was built for this moment. Not because it's a good business opportunity — though it is — but because the industry genuinely needs it, and the time to build it is now, while the pipeline is ramping up and the people doing the buying are ready for something better.
$20B+
in active rail infrastructure investment across Australia's east coast
Multi-state
major rail projects underway simultaneously in QLD, NSW, VIC and beyond
Zero
dedicated online marketplaces existed for Australia's rail industry — until now
Where we're headed
In three years, this should be the first place anyone in rail looks when they need to buy something.
More suppliers, more categories, and a platform that handles the full range of how rail businesses actually buy — from a $50 consumable on a credit card to a $50,000 equipment order on 30-day terms. We're building from the ground up, and we're just getting started.