Extent of transnational rail flood revealed

Images from the remote Goldfields show Australia’s only east-west rail remains partially underwater as the cleanup begins on surrounding stations impacted by torrential rains this month.

The Australian Rail Track Corporation at the weekend shared the first images from the flood zone one week after the rail line was closed.

Those images came after ARTC revealed on Friday it had been unable to get crews in to assess the damage due to the extensive flooding in the region, and that the rail would likely remain closed until at least this weekend.

“Prolonged and intense rain in the area is impacting our ability to access all locations of the rail line and commence recovery efforts,” ARTC said on Friday.

“While our crews have observed water levels subsiding in some locations, there are still a number of sites significantly impacted with water over the track.

“Given the current weather outlook, the best-case scenario, with all flood waters receding would allow us to reopen the line towards the back end of next week.”

The closure comes after as much as 350mm of rain fell over a week in parts of the remote Goldfields north and east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, more than 12 times the region’s March average.

Truckers on Friday evening were granted exemptions to run triple road trains across Nullarbor to account for the rail disruption.

The rail outage is not expected to lead to major shortages on supermarket shelves, however other businesses such as retailers and mechanics reliant on getting products from over east have been warned to expect delays.

The rare weather event has transformed pastoral stations across the Goldfields, particularly in the south-east corner where Australia’s largest sheep station, the one million-hectare Rawlinna Station, is underwater.

More than 250mm of rain at the station 400km south-east of Kalgoorlie flooded the station’s homestead buildings and left the staff quarters in “chest deep” water, according to station manager Gemma Chandler.

Usually dry, this is the second time this year Rawlinna Station has flooded.

In January the remnants of a tropical low dumped 151mm of rain on the station in two days, more than the prior two years combined.

After that rain, outgoing station manager Jimmy Wood said another rain event in March would set the station up for a good year.