Just after 1200 AEDT on Saturday 15 January 2022, there's a...

Just after 1200 AEDT on Saturday 15 January 2022, there's a loaded coal train moving at 33 kilometres an hour along the 'coal roads' (rail tracks) in the Kooragang Island area near the Port Waratah Coal Services unloader.

There's a loaded AZJ coal train from WHC's Narrabri mine just south of Hexham, but it has stopped.

Just south of Greta (between Maitland and Singleton) is a loaded AZJ-operated coal train from the WHC Werris Creek mine.

Further north, between Muswellbrook and Aberdeen (NSW not Scotland!) is a stopped Maules Creek to Kooragang Island loaded coalie. A separate empty coal train en route to Maules Creek is nearly at Werris Creek, so it's slowed to 22 kmh.

Between Werris Creek and Gunnedah, another empty coal trainbound for the latter is travelling at about 80kmh.

Further north, a loaded and an empty coal train from or bound for Narrabri's mine are respectively at 23kmh and nearly stopped.

There are many other trains with the rail line north of Muswellbrook being single track with passing loops, so that explains some of the slower speeds.

Aurizon operates some coal trains locally to/from the staging yard at Hexham so I may have missed one or two rakes of coal hopper wagons operating for WHC.

Good to see the black gold continuing to move 24/7. As I am not a company insider I don't know how this level of movement compares with targets but it looks reasonable. WHC hasn't said 'the virus' is affecting its coal mines' production or AZJ's trains (to any material degree) so that's also pleasing.