4-day Hunter Valley shutdown for track upgrades

Australia’s busiest rail network outside of the Sydney and Melbourne suburban passenger networks will shut down for four days next week to commission new track infrastructure, finalise major upgrade works and carry out important maintenance.

ARTC’s Executive General Manager for the Hunter Valley Network, Alec Mackenzie, said trains would not operate on the Hunter Valley network for 96 hours from 6 am Tuesday 13 August through to 6 am Saturday 17 August.

“Over the four days we have approximately 120 individual jobs being completed across the 800 kilometre Hunter Valley rail network from Kooragang in Newcastle out to Narrabri in the Upper Hunter and along the Ulan line,” Mr Mackenzie said.

  • Some of the major maintenance works taking place during the four days includes:
  • 1 Weighbridge Certification
  • 22 km of new rail being laid
  • 2 km of full track reconditioning and,
  • 94.5km of track grinding

“These planned shutdowns not only allow ARTC to work network-wide but gives the entire coal chain, from pit to port, a clear window to schedule important maintenance.”

“We will be carrying out general track maintenance activities to maintain the safety and reliability of the track for both passenger and freight train services,” Mr Mackenzie said.

“Pre-planned network closures of this size are scheduled over 12 months in advance and balance the need to maintain and grow the network while minimising disruption to our customers,” Mr Mackenzie said.

For information on impact to passenger services, customers should visit:
www.sydneytrains.info or www.nswtrains.info

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