Australia's Blackwater Line coal rail route suspended after collision: sources

Deliveries along Australia's Blackwater Line were temporarily suspended June 18 following an accident along the rail route that is used for transporting coal, market participants told S&P Global Platts.

"Aurizon is assisting emergency services with access to the rail corridor at Westwood, west of Rockhampton, following an accident just after 11am today. A locomotive, owned by another rail operator, has struck the rear of a stationary Aurizon coal train," a spokesperson of Aurizon said June 18.

The Blackwater Coal Rail System is one of four systems in Aurizon's Central Queensland Coal Network (CQCN). It has the largest route length of the four coal systems, according to Aurizon's website. Some of the coking coal mines located along the Blackwater Line include Blackwater Mine, Curragh, Jellinbah and Yarrabee.

The company did not provide a specific timeframe on resumption of railing service, while a market source said that there would potentially be no rail service over the coming weekend on June 19-20.

While the exact impact on transportation and deliveries remained unclear, market participants said that deliveries of coal through the system would be affected following the incident.

"Rockhampton is the place where every train is coming through and June is usually the busiest period of time in the year. I think it will impact everyone as a result," he said.

The Blackwater system links Central Queensland mines from the Bowen Basin to two export terminals at the Port of Gladstone -- RG Tanna Coal Terminal and the Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal, according to the company website.