Passengers can expect to be able to board the XPT services to Sydney two weeks earlier than anticipated, with the track expected to be fully repaired from a major landslip on July 30.

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said that freight operations will also return to full capacity at night, after the disrupted services forced several key industries to a halt. 

“There was a serious threat of job losses across the Central West region and industries like agriculture and critical minerals that have been already hard hit with the recent extreme weather,” Mr Farraway said.

Despite Mr Farraway communicating that freight services would be a priority, swift repairs mean that passengers won’t have to wait the originally anticipated six weeks to catch the train.

Since the landslip two weeks ago, crews have worked to restore the track using around 40,000 tonnes of gabion rock to build up the embankment. 

The repairs meant that various key services to the west were halted, including services to Broken Hill and Dubbo XPT services, as well as lines across the Blue Mountains, which were all replaced with bus services. 

“Originally, the line furthest from the landslip was to open for freight but with the good work done to date the track will be able to safely support movements in both directions at night, increasing movements for critical goods and supplies,” Mr Farraway said. 

“Transport will now work towards restoring a full timetable for passenger services, such as the Bathurst Bullet and XPT services, to better connect customers between Sydney and the west.” 

Qube Agri Site Manager Barry McIntyre at Coonamble where trains were halted

Last month’s landslip on the Main Western Line, situated halfway between Blackheath and Mount Victoria, caused the collapse of the embankment along a 20-metre stretch of track, creating a landslip more than 60 metres deep.

The landslip is in a different location to the 16-metre sinkhole that was repaired at Leura following March’s severe weather event. 

As a result of the damages to the western line Qube Agri, based in Narromine and Coonamble, switched their grain freight routes to use the main south train line.

Then another train line incident occurred at Gunning on Sunday 13 July, again halting train movement.

The rail line closures halted outloading operations at the Qube Agri Coonamble site on 9 July, with a skeleton staff remaining. Prior to the line damage the site had been loading an average of two to three trains each week.

Qube Agri Regional Manager says there have been multiple challenges for freight movements across the network due to flood-related damage.

"The severe weather has resulted in rail line closures, significant track damage, derailments, washaways, sink holes, land slips and more", he said. 

"The train line damages have resulted in our sites' inability to receive shipping containers to fill and then further export grain," said Jeremy Brown.

"The train line damages have severely impacted all rail in NSW."

The Coonamble site returned to loading on Friday 22 July, with train movements expected to return to pre-closure numbers over several weeks as the network is fully restored.