Train derailment: Passengers reportedly forced to spend 12 hours on a bus at Kewdale Freight Terminal

Passengers hoping for a “comfortable and stylish” train ride to Adelaide on the Indian Pacific were reportedly forced to spend 12 hours sitting in a bus at the Kewdale Freight Terminal after a train derailed at the Avon Yard near Northam on Sunday. It is understood a grain train carting for CBH Group derailed earlier that day, sending operations at the Avon Yard into chaos. The railway yard west of Northam allows freight from various narrow gauge lines to be transferred via the standard gauge line. It was used to store withdrawn rolling stock from about 2013 but was reopened by Australia’s biggest rail freight operator Aurizon in recent years after it inked a multi-million-dollar contract with CBH Group to cart grain on rail. The derailment meant the popular Indian Pacific — which takes passengers to Adelaide or Sydney from Perth — was forced to “run around” (or attach the locomotive to the other end of the train) and head back to Kewdale. Passengers on a bus headed from the East Perth Bus Terminal to Northam, where they were planning to board the Indian Pacific, arrived in the Wheatbelt town to discover they could not board. Instead, the bus returned to Perth where the passengers spent the “rest of the day and night” at the Kewdale Freight Terminal. Those on board reported they had “plenty to eat and drink on board, and a lot of laughs”. One passenger posted on Facebook on Monday, April 10, that her trip to the Eastern States for a concert had not “started well”. “Left yesterday from East Perth Terminal. We were transported to Kewdale by bus to get on the Indian Pacific,” she wrote. “Made it to Northam and we were told we were returning to Perth due to a derailment of a goods train. “Spent the rest of the day and night back at the Kewdale Freight terminal. “On our way again now but have no estimated time of arrival in Adelaide. “Don’t think I will make it in time to catch the bus to Melbourne. “However, we have had plenty to eat and drink on board and a lot of laughs.” It is understood the Indian Pacific was due to arrive in Adelaide in the afternoon of Tuesday, April 11. Named after the two oceans the train encounters on its journey, the Indian Pacific travels between Perth, Adelaide and Sydney with the website saying it allows passengers to travel in “comfort and style”. Shire of Northam president Chris Antonio said he had not heard about the derailment. CBH Group, Aurizon, Arc and Journey Beyond Rail (which operates the Indian Pacific) have been contacted for comment.