The quicker goods can be distributed to WA from the 'eastern...

The quicker goods can be distributed to WA from the 'eastern states', the better.

With the reopening of the Trans Australia Railway, rail operators Pacific National and SCT are pulling out all stops to assist.

Rail traffic across the Nullarbor is going gangbusters. As at 0830 AEDT on Saturday 19 February, there were four PN Melbourne to Perth and one Sydney to Perth PN trains on this long stretch of railway between Port Augusta, SA and Kalgoorlie, WA.

Another one from Sydney was almost at Port Augusta, with a further PN train from Melbourne not far behind.

Yet another intermodal from Melbourne was approaching Adelaide, while much further to the northeast, a Sydney to Perth train was near Parkes NSW, probably with some shunting to undertake as that's where some Perth-bound containers are loaded.

Inevitably, WOW lost sales while the railway was unavailable for 24 days, but a one-in-200 year flood was by definition an Act of God.

Rail is far more efficient and effective than slow, constantly delayed coastal shipping that since COVID-19 has astronomically declined given all the ships use foreign crews who weren't welcome in WA. The ports are also subject to huge delays, and container ships sometimes miss port calls in an effort to regain their schedules, as they can be weeks late.