1200 workers on board for three-day Hunter Valley rail maintenance programme

1200 workers on board for three-day Hunter Valley rail maintenance programme


Around 1,200 workers will be carrying out maintenance and enhancement works along the Hunter Valley rail network next week, as part of a scheduled three-day program involving about 110 jobs to help deliver service reliability.

The work will be undertaken from the port at Kooragang and along the rail corridor to Narrabri, as well as the Ulan line west from Muswellbrook.

ARTC Group Executive for the Hunter Valley Network Jonathan Vandervoort said maintenance works along the network include ballast cleaning, re-railing and track reconditioning.

“Re-railing work is occurring at Mangoola, Sandy Hollow and Baerami, as well as in Maitland in the vicinity of Victoria Street and along a 1km section south of Thornton Station,” Jonathan said.

“Track reconditioning will occur at Kooragang, Hexham and East Maitland.

“Enhancements to signalling systems will take place on sections between Bylong to Kerrabee and Wilpinjong to Ulan, completing these upgrades for the Hunter Valley network.”

Jonathan said that in order for the work to occur efficiently and safely, a shutdown on the network will be in place.

“Similar to other recent maintenance programs, a scheduled shutdown is required to allow us to access the track for maintenance and upgrades that cannot be done safely when trains are running,” he said.

“The work will generally start at 6.30am on Tuesday 6 August and is expected to be completed about 6.30am on Friday 9 August. A small section between Thornton and Maitland will start earlier from about 2am on Tuesday for track reconditioning work.

“We apologise for the inconvenience and as always we appreciate the patience and cooperation of motorists, commuters and customers right across the maintenance program.

“We also ask people in communities close to the rail corridor to be cautious during the shutdown period and keep an eye out for increased vehicle movements in and out of work sites.”

For more information visit www.artc.au

12th August 2019