The Australian Rail Track Corporation will close the Hunter Valley coal rail network for three days next week as part of scheduled maintenance work.
The network-wide maintenance shutdown will kick in at 6am on Wednesday, October 7, is timed to finish late on Friday, October 9.
ARTC said the shutdown will mean limited train operations to allow maintenance to be delivered in a safe and efficient way; nearly 1000 ARTC and contract staff will be on the rail corridor during the works.
“By ‘closing down’ the network and with fewer trains running we can ensure we get the maximum amount of rail maintenance done efficiently in the safest possible environment for our people,” ARTC executive general manager for the Hunter Valley Jonathan Vandervoort said.
Typical rail maintenance tasks like replacing sleepers, cleaning and compacting ballast, improving the condition of level crossings as well as technical jobs like signalling work are scheduled to take place throughout the Valley.
“Unfortunately, with work of this scale there will be some disruption and we would like to ask motorists and members of the community to be aware of changed traffic conditions and heavy work vehicles entering and exiting sections of the corridor,” Vandervoort added.
“We would like to thank the community for the patience and understanding while the works take place as we appreciate it does cause inconvenience.”
Maintenance work will take place throughout the Hunter from Newcastle to Narrabri and from Muswellbrook to Ulan, ARTC said.
The next network-wide shutdown is scheduled between November 10 and 13.