25 Oct 2010

Sydney - Melbourne railway line open again

10:08 am on 25 October 2010

Limited freight rail services between Sydney and Melbourne resumed on Monday morning, after a derailment on the line on Saturday.

Fifteen wagons from a Pacific National freight service carrying steel came off the track at Wodonga on Saturday morning, ripping up 660 metres of track.

Passenger trains are running between Melbourne and Sydney, but buses are in place between Albury and Melbourne.

After an assessment of the site on Sunday, the Australian Rail Track Corporation said limited freight traffic will be allowed from 6am (AEDT) Monday. Their speed would be restricted to 10km per hour.

Passenger services will not be restored until after another inspection later this week.

The ABC reports the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau suspects a problem with one of the wagons' bogies caused the accident.

Rail track denies that mud holes caused by new concrete sleepers caused the accident.

Train drivers told The 7:30 Report last month the new sleepers have caused hundreds of mud holes to appear, making the track unstable.

Rail Track says the holes are due to heavy rain and poor quality ballasts laid in the 1970s.