Major derailment hits Dalrymple Bay, Hay Point coal supplies

<p>A coal train with 45 fully laden wagons and four locomotives has come off the tracks in Queensland’s Bowen Basin and is expected to cause train delays to the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal for three to four days.</p> <p>Queensland Rail said today (Friday, June 24) the coal train derailed early this morning and smashed into another train early standing in the Coppabella marshalling yards, west of Mackay causing significant damage to track, overhead lines and rolling stock.</p> <p>The train was on its way from Goonyella mine.</p> <p>The track is the main route for coal trains to the Dalrymple Bay Coal terminal, managed by Prime Infrastructure.</p> <p>Trains behind the derailment are in quarantine until the lines are cleared. </p> <p>QR is working on moving trains around the site by using alternative lines.</p> <p>Nobody was injured in the accident.</p> <p>All lines west of Coppabella are expected to be closed for several days, affecting coal movement from the Burton Downs, Moranbah North, Goonyella, Riverside and North Goonyella mines. </p> <p>Dalrymple Bay terminal operations manager Greg Smith told <em>Lloyd’s List DCN </em> that it is trying to load as much coal onto vessels as it can from its stockpile.</p> <p>But it’s not easy.</p> <p>"We already have 360,000 tonnes of coal sitting here which cannot be loaded because most of the ships waiting off the port are multi-parcel vessels," he said.</p> <p>Prime infrastructure managing director Chris Chapman said the derailment would not have any financial impact on the company.</p> <br />