General News
27 March, 2025
Western Line blocked for days
The derailment of coal wagons at an Oakey siding caused the blockage of Queensland’s Western railway line for several days last week.
Just before 4pm on Tuesday (18th March) six wagons of an Aurizon-operated freight train derailed while shunting at Oakey, requiring the closure of the Western line.
No members of the train crew were injured and they were taken away from the incident location.
On Wednesday, Aurizon and Queensland Rail investigators attended the site to formulate a plan to recover the derailed wagons, which remained in an upright position.
During the recovery process, coal trains were halted at Oakey and Kingsthorpe.
Rail replacement buses were arranged for last week’s Westlander services from Brisbane and Charleville.
Aurizon organised heavy lifting equipment for the recovery of the derailed wagons, which occurred last week, with crane contractors from the Darling Downs region used.
