Hunter Valley Coal Chain - Rail Infrastructure

Rail Infrastructure

The railway corridor used is part of the Main North railway line. The Hunter Valley infrastructure is owned by the State Government owned RailCorp and managed by the Federal Government owned Australian Rail Track Corporation under a 60 year lease until 2064. The track is open access and may be used by any accredited rail operator. The other infrastructure associated with coal transport, such as load points, is privately owned, usually by a mine or a coal loader.

West of Maitland the line is formed of two tracks, with three in places, with the lines being shared with passenger trains operated by Cityrail and CountryLink. East of Maitland the line is formed of four tracks with the southern pair exclusively for the use of coal trains with an underpass at Hanbury west of Waratah allowing trains to reach Port Waratah without having to interface with the northern pair of tracks. In 2006 the Sandgate Flyover was opened to simiarly allow trains to access Kooragang Island. As at December 2012 there were 50 to 60 coal trains per day up to 1.5 kilometres in length.

To alleviate congestion which frequently sees loaded trains queuing, the Australian Rail Track Corporation proposes building a five track yard at Hexham to allow coal trains to be pass one another and reach the ports in a more logical order.

Aurizon and Pacific National both provide locomotives and freight wagons to operate coal trains. Freightliner Australia provide crews to operate Xstrata owned rolling stock, with Pacific National doing likewise for Whitehaven Coal and Southern Shorthaul Railroad for Centennial Coal.