Cormorant Road on Kooragang island was closed in both directions for four hours on Friday afternoon after a grain train was partially derailed crossing Cormorant Road.
The derailment happened at about 1.30pm and the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) confirmed the tracks had been cleared by 5.20pm.
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There were no reports of injury as Newcastle Police and emergency services worked to divert traffic between Raven Street and Egret Street on Kooragang Island and return the trains cars to the tracks.
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Eastbound drivers were diverted via Tomago and Cabbage Tree roads, and westbound traffic was sent via Medowie and Richardson roads around the scene.
A crane was called in late Friday afternoon to assist in lifting cars which appeared to have left the tracks at a bend where the rail lines intersected with the roadway, back into place.
A spokesperson for ARTC, which manages the Hunter rail-freight network, said the derailed train was a Pacific National grain train.
The spokesperson said the second car of the train, which was understood to have been full after leaving the grain terminals in the Port of Newcastle, had come off the tracks on the line.
A number of occasionally used rail lines cross Cormorant Road - which links Tourle Street, Mayfield, to the Stockton Bridge.
The grain train was on a line about 100 metres on the Mayfield side of the roundabout where the main four-lane road swings north to become Teal Street, heading over the Stockton Bridge.
No reason for the derailment was available last night but investigations will continue.
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Simon McCarthy
Simon McCarthy is a digital journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes and produces video and multimedia for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine, and co-produces the Toohey's News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
Simon McCarthy is a digital journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes and produces video and multimedia for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine, and co-produces the Toohey's News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
Ian Kirkwood
Reporting journalist at the Newcastle Herald since 1987. Editorial writer, general reporter, industrial relations, industry and coal.
Reporting journalist at the Newcastle Herald since 1987. Editorial writer, general reporter, industrial relations, industry and coal.
