THERE has been another CBH grain train derailment on the Miling rail line.
Arc Infrastructure, which manages the regional rail network, confirmed that the derailment took place early on Monday morning.
Nobody was injured in the derailment, but it has again thrown the spotlight on maintenance of the network, with this the second derailment in under three months on the line.
Arc Infrastructure head of operations Rod Smith said that on early Monday morning, six wagons on a 30-wagon CBH train being operated by Watco on the Miling main line had derailed.
"There were no injuries to the train crew," Mr Smith said.
"To ensure safe operations, Arc inspects this section of track every day a train operates on this line.
"This inspection occurred on Sunday morning.
"Arc's investigations have commenced and we will continue to work with Watco to recover the wagons.
"The timing of the recovery is unknown but may take some time given the wet ground conditions in the area.
"Once the train has been removed from the site, Arc will be able to commence the repairs to the track and plan for the reopening of the line."
A CBH spokesperson confirmed that the locomotive and six wagons had come off the Miling line.
"The train was carrying wheat bound for the Kwinana grain terminal and CBH is co-operating with Arc Infrastructure to remedy the situation," the spokesperson said.
This latest derailment comes after a CBH grain train locomotive also derailed in the same area at the end of June.
CBH has access to the Miling line under an interim access deal while moves to try and develop a long-term access deal with Arc Infrastructure are stalled in an arbitration process.
April marked the third anniversary of CBH and ARC entering an arbitration process conducted under the Arbitration Act 1996 - as the final requirement of the access regime - aimed at resolving their differences over a 10-year rail network access agreement.
Under the Arbitration Act, the negotiations and even any eventual resolution is strictly secret unless all parties agree on precisely what can be made public.
Shire of Moora president Ken Seymour expressed concerns about the track condition after the July derailment and said this week that nothing had changed.
"We have been raising concerns about the condition of the Miling line since 2014 but nothing has been done," Mr Seymour said.
In July, Mr Seymour told Farm Weekly he believed $40 million needed to be spent on the line.
"As a shire we must continually spend money on roads to maintain them and the same should apply to rail as well," he said.
"I am not sure how that stands with this arbitration process that is going on and we are increasingly frustrated with how long that process has been running?"
Mr Seymour said it was frustrating that they had been calling on some form of resolution to the rail network for such a long period of time.
