Major flooding in central NSW and parts of Victoria has led to road and rail closures in regional areas

At EFS, we connect vendors and suppliers with freight solutions across air, rail and road.?

During the pandemic, huge delays were caused by spikes in demand, border closures and people falling ill. In 2022, when the pandemic settled down, we were hoping for a slow but steady return to ‘normal’. However, the weather had other plans.?

Massive floods have plagued dozens of towns in Australia this year. The result of torrential rain and flood waters is that roads and the ground underneath rail lines are washed away. We saw this with a disruption to the Sydney-Perth rail line at the start of the year and there has been further damage and disaster this month.?

Latest flooding, road and rail closures in NSW/Victoria

In November, heavy rainfall in the NSW central west resulted in the following:?

• The track being damaged at Inverleigh, on the line between Melbourne and Adelaide. Because of this, a kilometre-long train ran into difficulty, which caused a number of containers and wagons to fall off the track (fortunately nobody was hurt).?
• Flooding near Broken Hill in central NSW, disabling the rail line that connects Sydney with Adelaide. As of Wednesday, November 16th, the line was closed. As shared by railjournal.com, the flooding has prevented Sydney - Perth intermodal services and Whyalla - Newcastle steel trains from accessing their normal transcontinental route.
• Roads were closed or damaged in a number of areas, including Central Tablelands, Central West, Orana and Far West. Closures spanned across:?
• The Newell Highway between Forbes and West Wyalong
• Parts of the Great Western Highway at Kelso near Bathurst
• The Escort Way between Forbes and Cudal
• Castlereagh Highway at Walgett

Roads and rail lines are obviously untraversable while under water but often floods recede to expose large potholes, loss of bitumen and sections where the ground beneath the road or line has been completely washed away. This makes travel impossible for heavy vehicles such as long-haul trucks and trains.?

At this point in time, crews are needed to assess damage and prioritise repairs. news.com.au reported that The Victorian Transport Association says $1 billion is needed to fix damaged roads and rail in that state alone.

Meanwhile, the NSW flood disaster response has been declared as the largest ever, as volunteers from other countries arrive to help. The ABC reported that volunteers are coming from New Zealand, the US, and Singapore to support rescue and recovery efforts.

What to do about freight

The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has said it is working with freight customers on a recovery plan. At this point in time, the freight providers we work with at Effective Freight Solutions are sharing updates about ‘major delays across the continent’. Because it’s early days, timelines for services getting back to normal are difficult to predict.?

If you need to send goods via road or rail, get in touch. We can explain your options and keep you up to date with how freight and logistics companies are handling the situation.?

Need freight advice in Australia? Speak to EFS today.