Rail link to eastern states reopened

The train line linking Western Australia to the eastern states has been reopened, after floodwaters forced its closure on February 26.

The train line was originally scheduled to be reopened on Monday, but delays in water receding from two flooded sites 400 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie pushed that timetable back to noon yesterday.

ARTC spokesperson Brad Emery said between six and 12 freight trains were held up by the rail closure.

"There were two sites where the water had not receded," Mr Emery said.

"Overcast conditions meant evaporation was very slow, so it took longer than we expected.

"The damage was actually very minimal, there was no buckling of the rail, there were a few washaways of ballast, but we had the ballast trains there very quickly."