Bomb-making substance stolen from Pacific National freight train

<p>Railcorp said it would consider any recommendation that it change its security arrangements for sensitive cargos after it emerged that up to 400 kg of chemical explosives were stolen from a train near Newcastle earlier this month.</p> <p>The theft occurred on October 6 when a Pacific National freight train was waiting in a rail siding for up to 30 minutes for a passenger train to pass.</p> <p>New South Wales transport minister John Watkins said Railcorp, which owns the rail line but not the train, was not responsible for security arrangements for the transport of dangerous goods.</p> <p>NSW police are investigating the theft, which required the thieves to break into a container carrying the ammonium nitrate, a substance used for bomb-making.</p> <p>The incident occurred on a siding known as Sulphide Junction, on the northern rail line near the Newcastle suburb of Glendale.</p> <p>The missing fertiliser was initially blamed on a leak in the container, and was not noticed until an audit by its manufacturer, Orica, found an anomaly in its figures.</p> <p>The substance was being moved to mines in Kalgoorlie from Orica’s Kooragang Island plant in Newcastle.</p> <p>The Counter-Terrorism Command and the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation have been told of the incident. </p> <p>Pacific National and Orica were both unable to be contacted for comment this morning (Thursday, October 26).</p> <br />