Mid West supermarkets faced with bare shelves after Victoria train derailment causes shortages over Christmas

Mid West supermarkets are seeing reduced product availability in the lead-up to Christmas, since a train derailment led to food shortages in WA. On Monday, November 12 a freight train partially derailed in Inverleigh, Victoria and lost over 15 carriages after torrential rain. Since the derailment, the Melbourne to Perth train line is now operational, however the Sydney to Perth route remains down and isn’t expected to be operating until January 2023. A section of the railway near Parkes, NSW remains closed and trains are delivering freight from Melbourne. A Coles spokesperson said the company was working with suppliers to use alternative road and train freight options to ensure product availability. “Due to rail and road disruptions, we are currently experiencing short-term supply issues across some WA stores,” the spokesperson said. “We are working with our suppliers and using alternative transport methods to improve the supply of all products for our customers, with priority being given to essential products and Christmas items. We are optimistic that we will continue to see improvements in the coming weeks as rail services return to normal.” A Coles Northgate shopping centre employee said about a week ago the situation was serious, but was gradually resolving itself with stock beginning to trickle back on shelves. In Coles, the Geraldton Guardian observed empty shelves for pet food, soft drink, water bottles, brands of crisps, flour, baby wipes and toilet paper. A customer shopping at Coles said if customers didn’t like it they should go elsewhere or go without. Woolworths in Stirlings Central was much the same, as the Geraldton Guardian noted certain brands of cereal, juice boxes, sliced meat, cooking oils, the majority of pet food and frozen vegetables were missing from the shelves. A spokesperson for Woolworths said the railway line closures were putting pressure on getting certain products into WA, but expected supply to improve every week, with teams working hard to replenish shelves. “We’ve put in place a number of contingencies including trucking stock to South Australia, which is then sent via rail to Perth. However, customers may notice reduced availability of some lines,” they said. “We want to have the best offer possible for our customers leading up to Christmas and we thank the WA community for their patience.” A Woolworths shopper said she couldn’t find her favourite raspberry jam and had to opt for boysenberry, but it wasn’t a “biggie”. Another customer said she couldn’t find long-life custard and frozen corn on the cob, and was told to limit her purchase on eggs. “The frozen veggies was really limited in (Woolworths). I find that because I’m shopping for a farm, I come in once a week to do a fairly substantial shop. I always come here first and I end up getting most of the stuff at Super IGA,” she said. “I came shopping today thinking the truck would have come overnight. I’ve been doing my shopping at Woolies Wandina, and it’s quite limited up there too. It was pretty well the same.” A Woolworths employee said aside from the empty shelves, staff were told to stay home because it wasn’t practical to roster them on. “(Employers) had been getting their hours cut because there just wasn’t enough produce coming in,” they said. “There hasn’t been many sweets, and that’s what everyone has been coming in for to buy for Christmas, it kind of makes them upset.”