Our frontline teams successfully delivered essential maintenance and improvement works as part of scheduled shutdowns last month in the Southern Highlands and Hunter Valley.
In hot conditions in the Southern Highlands, works were carried out from 22-25 November between Enfield West and Cootamundra, including:
- Undercutting – over 1km across various locations
- Resurfacing – 30km across multiple areas
- Rerailing – 9km across various locations and delivery of 20km of rail for future possessions
- Sledding – 3,200m of track sledding at Penrose
- Vegetation control – hazardous tree removals
- Track upgrades:
- Track reconditioning at Mittagong (50m on down main line)
- Goulburn Up Refuge (1,200m track re-build)
- Goondah level crossing
- Resleepering – 200 sleepers replaced near Gunning
- Structures – repairs to assets at Breadalbane, Yass and Jindalee
- Drainage and geotechnical works – drainage works at Sefton Dive, Aylmerton, Mittagong and Mittagong Station; geotechnical works at Picton, Bowral and Aylmerton.
Signalling work was also completed as part of the Southern Highlands Overtaking Opportunities project.
Adrian Oorloff, Manager Major Maintenance, praised frontline teams in the Southern Highlands: “It was a massive effort by everyone involved, with over 700 staff on site each day working in challenging weather conditions,” he said. “One of the many key projects completed was at Mittagong where our newly formed internal construction team had to dig 1.8m below the top of the rail height to address poor formation conditions in the track subgrade. It was a complex undertaking and one that should now allow surface and subgrade water to effectively leave the site without impacting the stability of the track.”
In the Hunter, works were undertaken from 19-22 November between Kooragang and Muswellbrook, and west to Ulan and north to Narrabri, including:
- 930m of track reconditioning
- 5,500m of ballast cleaning
- 15,120m of rerailing
- 67.8km of track tamping
- 50.9km of track grinding/milling
- 36 turnouts completed
- 153 turnout grinding (roads) completed
- Two turnout renewals/installations
- Two culvert renewals.
Paul Flanagan, Manager Asset Engineering & Coordination, thanked team members involved: “Well done to everyone for your fantastic work,” he said. “With so much time and planning going into these shutdowns to coordinate the works and minimise disruption for our customers, it’s great to see everyone work together – including our contractors – to safely complete works to strengthen our rail network.”
