A Senate Estimates hearing has heard the Kankool train derailment is likely to cost the Australian Rail Track Corporation $1 million.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
NSW Nationals' Senator John Williams quizzed ARTC chief executive and managing director, John Fullerton, at a hearing of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee in Canberra on Tuesday.
Senator Williams asked the ARTC boss if he had an estimate of the damages bill from the derailment, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday, February 15.
Nineteen carriages of an empty coal train bound for the Gunnedah Basin left the tracks between Murrurundi and Willow Tree on the Main North Line, blocking the rail corridor for five days.
Mr Fullerton said, while it was not possible to give a final cost, he anticipated a damages bill of "around a million dollars."
"There are two points that were destroyed that have to be rebuilt and there are probably around 400 sleepers that have to be repaired," Mr Fullerton told the Committee.
Senator Williams also asked Mr Fullerton if the ARTC knew why the freight train left the tracks.
"There is an investigation underway at the moment by ATSB [Australian Transport Safety Bureau] and also by ONRSR [Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator]," John Fullerton said.
"At this stage, it is too early to form any view."
When asked how many rail services were disrupted, John Fullerton told the Committee he would need to gather further information but conceded mines in the Gunnedah Basin were impacted by the derailment.
"Certainly, there were the coal trains that operate for Idemitsu and Whitehaven.
"[They] were not able to run for that period, so there was loss of product being moved through the supply chain," Mr Fullerton said.
Senator Williams also asked if ARTC will face demands for compensation from coal companies as a result of the derailment.
"Under the terms of the contract, they normally do not depending on the cause but, at this stage, it is too early to make any call as to what caused that derailment," John Fullerton told the Committee.