Moora to Millendon rail reopens, Miling to Piawaning still closed

A stretch of rail used to cart grain between Moora and Millendon in the Swan Valley has reopened after a train derailment last month.

The Moora to Millendon Junction section of Arc Infrastructure’s Midland railway line was reopened on March 25, three weeks after a CBH train driven by a Watco driver derailed on March 3.

The derailment occurred near Noland Avenue in the Upper Swan, and 12 wagons towards the back of the CBH train were affected.

No one was injured in the accident, which is being investigated.

The State Government-owned line is leased by Arc Infrastructure, and used to cart grain from Walkaway, near Geraldton, to Millendon in the Swan Valley.

There, it connects to a different line to provide access to the Port of Kwinana for grain delivery

An Arc spokeswoman said the company had to wait until the “site was cleared and returned to Arc’s control before starting repairs”.

She said the company had started work on March 14, and was required to reconstruct 220m of track and ballast replacement.

The derailment was the first along an Arc Infrastructure line this year, but there was one derailment near Miling on June 26, and three derailments across Arc’s network in 2018. The final, northern end of the Toodyay West to Miling line is still closed nearly 10 months after a CBH train driven by a Watco driver derailed on June 26.

Arc Infrastructure has reopened about two-thirds of the line in stages since the derailment, with the last 45km of the line expected to be reopened in May.

The train was being driven by a WATCO driver along the Arc line, which is only used by CBH to cart grain from its upcountry sites to Kwinana Grain Terminal.

An investigation is still under way to determine what caused the Miling incident, but images obtained by Countryman appeared to show a crack in the rail line.