The Goonyella railway system is located in
Central Queensland
Central Queensland is an imprecisely-defined geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Cap ...
, Australia. It services the coal mining area of the
Bowen Basin, carrying coal to the
Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminals 20 km southeast of
Mackay, as well as products to other destinations by way of connections to the
North Coast Line at Yukan and the
Central Line at Burngrove via the
Gregory coal mine branch. It is also connected to the coal loading terminal at Abbot Point (20 km northwest of
Bowen) by the
GAP line. The line opened on 5 November 1971 and runs for 477 kilometres.
The Goonyella system is
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
and electrified using
25 kV 50 Hz.
The line has been duplicated from Hay Point to Wotonga (174 km) and features
CTC signalling over the entire system.
Mines
The Goonyella Coal Chain services 25 mines, carrying coal from
BHP Mitsubishi Alliance
The BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) is an Australian coal mining company operating in Central Queensland. The largest coal producer in Australia, it is a joint venture with BHP and Mitsubishi each owning 50%. It was established in 2001.
The BMA ...
, Anglo Coal,
Bravus Mining & Resources, Macarthur Coal, Peabody Energy Australia, Xstrata and ANCI. The system currently operates under a demand-pull model, with rail haulages being designated by the ports, and the shipping stem.
The rail line transports coal from the
German Creek coal mine,
Foxleigh coal mine
The Foxleigh Coal Mine is a coal mine in Mackenzie River, Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. It is within the Bowen Basin coal reserves of Central Queensland. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 102 million tonnes of coking coal, on ...
,
Norwich Park coal mine, Lake Vermont Mine,
Saraji coal mine,
Peak Downs Mine, Millennium Mine, Poitrel Mine, Moorvale Mine, Burton Downs Mine, Carborough Downs Mine, Issac Plains Mine,
Moranbah North coal mine
The Moranbah North Coal Mine is a coal mine in the Bowen Basin at Moranbah
Moranbah is a coal mining town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Moranbah had a p ...
,
Goonyella Riverside Mine,
Hail Creek coal mine, Clermont Mine, Riverside Mine,
North Goonyella coal mine
The North Goonyella Coal Mine is a coal mine located in the Bowen Basin at Moranbah, Queensland, Moranbah in Central Queensland, Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 175 million tonnes of Coke (fuel), coking coal, one of the la ...
,
South Walker Creek coal mine, and
Blair Athol coal mine.
See also
*
Rail transport in Queensland
References
External links
Map of North Queensland Rail Coal Network1925 map of the Queensland railway system
Railway lines in Queensland
3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Australia
Xstrata
Railway lines opened in 1971
Buildings and structures in Central Queensland
1971 establishments in Australia
Coal mining in Queensland
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