BACK ON TRACK: Railway reopens following dramatic derailment at Nana Glen

Rail repair done in record time as the first train rolls through Nana Glen since dramatic derailment

Ten days after a dramatic derailment caused chaos at Nana Glen, the first train has passed over a brand new section of track.

The Australian Rail Track Corporation made short work of repairing the rail line damaged by a storm and subsequent derailment of a goods train, putting the finishing touches on the track on Saturday evening.

After the last of the derailed cargo containers were removed from the track, workers began rebuilding roughly 300m of rail line with 1500 tonnes of ballast, 800m of rail and 600 sleepers on Friday.

Fire and Rescue NSW handed back control of the Nana Glen good train derailment site to Australian Rail Track Corporation on Saturday. The train derailed on Thursday February 25, spilling an estimated 11,000 litres of diesel.

Despite concerns the weather could stymie ARTC’s goal of having the track operational by the weekend, work was completed ready for the first train to pass through around 10.30pm.

“We would like to thank the community and our customers for their continued patience and understanding,” an ARTC spokesperson said.

The rail line was closed between Coffs Harbour and Grafton for a total of 10 days after a huge storm damaged the track and caused the goods train derailment on February 25.

Early efforts to begin the recovery and repair were hampered by poor weather and localised flooding which made access to the site impossible other than by railcar.

Teams at the site of the train derailment in Nana Glen, west of Coffs Harbour. Around 8000 litres of diesel has leaked out of one of the derailed locomotives.

A number of containers spilled into floodwaters and onto the property of Hill Top Riding Centre and there were fears five containing dangerous goods were among them.

Those fears were allayed some time later when Fire and Rescue NSW confirmed the containers — carrying paints, aerosols and contaminated waste water – were all intact and upright.

The site of the train derailment at Nana Glen on February 25.

Around 11,000L of diesel was also spilled from one of the derailed locomotives though testing from the Environmental Protection Agency found the spill had dispersed throughout the floodwaters.