In October 2022, one Australian heritage railway reported that due to coal supply issues, most of their steam hauled trains would be replaced by diesel operations.
This is a recurring issue in Europe, where heritage operators are carefully looking at how to source reliable coal supplies.
Coal Working Group (CWG)
In Australia, ATHRA has established a Coal Working Group (CWG) whose primary purpose is to collate and disseminate information about coal that is of value to the ATHRA Board and members and will assist in the sector liaising with government.
The CWG identified that a survey of members would assist greatly by identifying possible issues and should gather information including:
- current sources of coal
- the types of coal that burned by organisations
- indicative availability
- indicative costs
- indicative volumes
- other information that may assist the CWG.
We invite you to complete the survey now.