The Newlands coal line is set to reopen at 6pm tonight after a coking coal train derailed on September 11.
An Aurizon spokesperson confirmed that last Sunday at 7.30am, a derailment of a loaded Pacific National coal service occurred near Havilah, south of Abbot Point on the Newlands line.
The train and coal loads were not damaged and luckily there were no injuries, however 5000 sleepers were damaged and needed replacement before the line could reopen.
“Aurizon infrastructure crews have worked tirelessly over the past week to repair the infrastructure. The large scale recovery work, coordinated by Aurizon Network, was performed with no safety incidents and within fatigue guidelines,” the spokesperson said.
“Our infrastructure crews have done a magnificent job to recovery the track, safely and without incident.
“Our Network Control Centre has also worked round the clock to ensure all supply chain partners were well informed throughout of the situation.
“This allows mines, rail operators and ports to adjust their operations accordingly and to effect a smooth resumption of services.”
The infrastructure damage to the line was expected to delay coal supply from major mining companies, such as BHP Billiton and Glencore.
About 250,000 tonnes of coal is carried along the Newlands line in one week.
“The train derailment will lead to some short-term delays in getting coal from our Newlands mine to port,” a Glencore spokesperson said.
“However, these short-term delays will not impact our ability to supply our customers’ requirements.”
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