After 14 weeks out of action due to damage to its tracks following the widespread flooding weather, the Broken Hill Xplorer headed back our way from Sydney on Monday.
“This is the longest stretch of time that the track has been out of service,” said NSW TrainLink Chief Operating Officer, Dale Merrick.
“We are thrilled to have the train running again and providing the Broken Hill community with this link to Sydney and the rest of the state.”
Eighteen sites required repair on the Broken Hill line between Condobolin and Ivanhoe. It took more than 60 workers over 22,000 hours to repair the track as they installed 10,500 tonnes of ballast and tamping, and restored impacted level crossings and signals.
“The heavy rain in October flooded more than 150 kilometres of track west of Parkes, with the waters receding only towards the middle of November. In addition, large sections of the track were also washed away and had to be rebuilt,” said Mr Merrick, who added, “I want to thank our customers for being so patient and understanding during this time.”
