'severe damage to restrict coal production'

Severe damage to Toowoomba railway to restrict coal production.
Sara-Jane Tasker
From: The Australian
January 18, 2011 12:00AM.

Coal operations near Toowoomba will struggle to recover from the floods because key infrastructure is substantially damaged
The state government said yesterday it was conducting a full assessment of the Western train line to Toowoomba but there were early indications the line had suffered substantial damage.

Helicopter survey flights ascertained that at least one bridge had been partially washed away, while landslips had covered rail lines with debris and in some areas washed away the ground underpinning the track, Queensland Rail said.

US energy giant Peabody, New Hope Coal and private company Syntech Resources have operations that use that rail line.

New Hope said yesterday that its West Moreton and Acland mines were back in operation about a week after it suspended production, and added that its mines had not been damaged.

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New Hope unit Queensland Bulk Handling, which operates the coal terminal at the Port of Brisbane, did not suffer flooding and its operational capability is expected to "quickly return to normal".

The Queensland Resources Council said yesterday the coal sector had lost an estimated $2.3 billion worth of sales from wet season events beginning in early December 2010.

"QRC estimates that about 15 per cent of the state's coalmines are in full production, with 60 per cent operating under restrictions and a further 25 per cent yet to resume normal operations," council chief executive Michael Roche said. "At full production, the coal industry is worth $8.5 million a day to Queensland taxpayers through royalties paid to the state government."

QR National has restored the Moura line to Gladstone Port and the major Blackwater system should reopen later this week.

Moody's Investors Service said when rail services resumed they would function under restrictions on speed and capacity until the completion of damage assessment, repairs, and the resumption of coal deliveries from water-logged mines.

The group said that recently listed QR National's revenue would be hit by the major coal disruptions that have forced the miners to declare force majeure on contracts.

"A 5 per cent drop in coal hauled (or around 10 million tonnes) would reduce forecast earnings before interest and taxes by around $48 million or 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the total," Moody's senior analyst Maurice O'Connell said in a report.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/severe-damage-to-toowoomba-railway-to-restrict-coal-production/story-e6frg8zx-1225989827784