Article: Trains rolling after 5 month flood break

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Trains rolling after 5 month flood break

Trains rolling after 5 month flood break

Posted August 06, 2012 10:48:40

The first trains in almost five months have been scheduled for a western Queensland rail line this week.

The line has been closed since February, when flooding damaged the Darr River bridge between Longreach and Winton.

Winton Mayor Butch Lenton says Queensland Rail (QR) has notified the council trains are resuming from today.

"There are five trains booked for the Winton line this week and three of those are cattle trains," Councillor Lenton said.

"It's been hard work to get that Darr River bridge fixed too and the workers didn't have the best of seasons to do it in, so it is a great effort."

He says re-opening the line will boost the local economy.

"A lot of stock was just going straight through on road - now they have that option of coming in, spelling in the yards and then putting them on trains," Councillor Lenton said.

"We did get that winter rain again which put everything on the back-burner and there were other lines also that had problems.

"But they didn't forget about it, and that was the main thing."

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