Wilmar Sugar Australia: Burdekin cane train track tampering risking lives

Australia’s largest sugar producer says the lives of its train crews and the public are being put at risk after three track-tampering incidents – including a derailment – in a week.

Wilmar Sugar and Renewables has issued a strong warning about the dangers of tampering with its cane rail track following a spate of incidents in the Burdekin. Picture: Supplied

Australia’s largest sugar producer says the lives of its train crews and members of the public are being put at risk following three track-tampering incidents – including a derailment ¬ in the space of a week.

Wilmar Sugar and Renewables confirmed on Thursday that there had been two near hits and one derailment after the points of three sections of cane rail line had been switched in the Burdekin in North Queensland last week.

The company said one of the near misses involved child culprits, although the remaining incidents remain unresolved.

Burdekin Cane Supply Manager John Tait said it had spoken to the parents of three children who were responsible for switching the points near the Inkerman Mill in Home Hill on Wednesday, July 9.

“Fortunately, in that particular case, an outgoing loco driver saw the kids behaving suspiciously near the points and radioed it in.”

He said checks revealed the points had been switched against the main line, which could have caused the cane train to veer into a cane rail siding, “potentially colliding with cane bins and causing a derailment”.

“While we were lucky on this occasion, I must emphasise how dangerous this sort of behaviour is,” he said.

“Tampering with the track is not a bit of harmless holiday fun – it can cause serious damage to our infrastructure and put our people’s lives at risk.”

An Queensland Ambulance Service crew on the scene of a cane-train incident in the Herbert River in this file photo from 2022. Picture: Cameron Bates

Mr Tait said two similar incidents were also reported last week – one in the Invicta Mill area near Giru, and one in the Kalamia Mill area near Ayr.

One of the drivers was able to pull up in time, avoiding a collision.

The other cane train collided with bins on a siding, causing nine bins to derail.

Mr Tait said it was fortunate that in all three cases the locomotive engine did not derail and that there were no injuries.

“But all of these incidents could have resulted in serious injury or worse.”

He said locos hauling cane bins could take up to a kilometre to brake to a halt.

“They typically travel at speeds of up to 35km an hour on main lines so it’s dangerous to suddenly divert them into a siding, where haul-out operators pick up and drop off bins.”

Mr Tait appealed to parents and carers to warn children about the dangers of interfering with cane rail infrastructure, or playing around cane rail lines.

“Children and other members of the public need to stay well clear of our cane-rail network for their own safety and the safety of our loco crews.”

Originally published as Wilmar Sugar Australia: Burdekin cane train track tampering risking lives