WORK is underway to bring a rail corridor back into service after a freight train derailment on Monday (14 November).
The train derailed at around 0530 on Monday morning, between Inverleigh and Gheringhap (west of Geelong) after a night of heavy rainfall.
The incident left a mess of mangled shipping containers on the tracks and in the surrounding paddock. The Melbourne-Adelaide rail corridor was closed as a result.
Reports suggest authorities now are working out how to remove the derailed train carriages. There were reportedly 55 carriages on the 1.7 kilometre-long train.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation said it has started working on a recovery plan for the line.
“ARTC has appointed a dedicated recovery team, with the support of our contractor partners, to undertake the recovery works,” an ARTC representative said.
“ARTC had already assembled a crew of around thirty workers at the incident site by this morning and expects to increase the on-site workforce significantly as works progress in the coming days.”
The rail corporation said it has mobilised heavy machinery on-site to support repair work. Work is underway to bring the line back into service.
“Work has now begun on clearing the tracks, assessing the damage, and beginning the task of repairing the track,” the ARTC representative said.
“Our initial assessments indicate a kilometre of track has been damaged, repairing this will require the delivery on-site and installation of new ballast, rail and concrete sleepers.
“ARTC is working with our contractors to have the track up and running as soon as possible but at this stage it is difficult to put an exact timeline on the track reopening.”
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau took control of the site on Monday and has launched an investigation into the derailment.
No one was injured in the incident.
