As previously discussed, due to severe flooding at Maitland NSW,...

As previously discussed, due to severe flooding at Maitland NSW, Melbourne and Sydney to Brisbane intermodal (container) trains have not run since some time on Tuesday 5 July 2022.

The Australian Rail Track Corporation hopes to have tracks and signalling infrastructure repaired by the end of this business week so that on Friday evening, 15 July, coal trains can recommence with intermodal trains to again run once the initial backlog of coal trains has reduced. There are four tracks (two in each direction) between Broadmeadow and Maitland in NSW but only a double line (one in each direction) on the 'coal trains' line to Singleton and Muswellbrook, and a single track on the North Coast line that goes up to Brisbane. Typically, intermodal trains share the tracks used by local Newcastle Interchange to Maitland/Telerah/Dungog/Scone passenger railcars, plus of course the NSW TrainLInk Casino/Grafton/Brisbane XPT railcars.

This isn't ideal for LAU as it's presumably had to put freight onto higher cost trucks (and there's a shortage of truck drivers as many young Australians don't find this sort of linehaul work attractive) but since we can't control 'the hand of God', let's be grateful it is unlikely to be a shutdown for a month.

LAU however sends far more containers on the Melbourne - Perth rail route than to Brisbane, though the number on the latter had been increasing if my observations are typical.