Ann: 2022 Half-year results update, page-12

Further information has come to hand re the currently closed transcontinental rail line that normally sees many LAU railable containers on intermodal trains crisscrossing the continent, and huge amounts of goods bound for COL and WOW supermarkets in Western Australia.

I assume WES with KMart, Target and Bunnings also transports many goods by rail to Perth although it never discusses this.

A major problem is that some parts of the Trans Australia Railway are inaccessible by road, and the damage south of Pimba (i.e. Port Augusta to Pimba) is worse than suggested above.

The Australian Rail Track Corporation may in some cases have to construct roads to 'get to' problem flooded areas of the track so culverts and the track can be repaired including ballasting.

There is also more damage than suggested earlier around Kultanaby, 302 kilometres by rail northwest of Port Augusta and 119km northwest of Pimba. Kultanaby is near Glendambo on the Stuart Highway linking Adelaide and Alice Springs.

The updated estimate suggests that the rail line may be closed for anything up to a further three weeks, though crews will be working as quickly as possible.

The flooding emanating from the Great Artesian Basin may not be unprecedented but it's rare.It's time for the Federal Government in its next Budget to upgrade this Port Augusta - Kalgoorlie rail line to protect it better from flooding.

Road transport may fill only some of the gaps in supermarket supplies. It's extremely expensive, and rail normally carries far more than B-Doubles - rail is about seven to eight times more efficient - plus there's a shortage of truck drivers, as many view it as an unattractive lifestyle.

The Trans Australia Railway is the major transport link from the eastern states to Perth, so to have it closed for weeks is terrible, even though it's an Act of God.