<p>Crews have been working since yesterday (Sunday, March 16) to clear the severely damaged tracks on the main Sydney-Melbourne line near Chiltern, in northern Victoria.</p> <p>Track owner Australian Rail Track Corporation hopes to reopen the line by 5 am tomorrow.</p> <p>The crews are working around the clock to clear overturned wagons, clear debris and ballast, and replace 500 metres of damaged track.</p> <p>The severe track damage was caused by a double derailment about 4.20 pm yesterday. </p> <p>The derailments were within seconds of each other</p> <p>A 900-metre-long Pacific National freight train, carrying steel and sugar from Sydney to Perth via Melbourne, derailed and overturned, churning up parts of the standard gauge interstate track and the ballast.</p> <p>The ballast damage is thought to have affected the nearby broad-gauge track, causing a V/Line Albury-Melbourne passenger service to derail when it arrived seconds later.</p> <p>Two people from the passenger train were taken to hospital for treatment.</p> <p>A Pacific National spokesman told <em>Rail Express</em> the company was relieved that no-one was seriously hurt in the derailments.</p> <p>The cause of the freight train derailment is not yet known, he said.</p> <p>An ARTC spokesman said some Perth-bound freight services have been diverted through Broken Hill.</p> <p>Because the track will be available again tomorrow, it was not worth diverting Melbourne-Sydney freight.</p> <p>The Victorian Department of Infrastructure and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will investigate the crash. </p> <br />
