The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has announced the line will be back in service earlier than expected, on December 20.

It responded to pressure to fix the damaged rail line and Cox’s Creek Bridge as soon as possible because of their limited capacity for stockpiling and the community backlash against trucking the coal to port.

Idemitsu Australia Resources – the owner of the Boggabri Coal mine – said the interruption to production at the mine would be minimal.

“Idemitsu Australia Resources previously advised it had been reviewing a number of options to minimise the impact of the derailment to the operation of Boggabri Coal mine, and has consulted closely with representatives from the workforce and the community regarding these options,” it said.

“From Friday 21 December 2012, overburden removal and coal mining at Boggabri Coal Mine will temporarily cease over the Christmas and New Year period until 2 January 2013, when the drill and blasting team will resume work at the mine. Boggabri Coal mine will then recommence production on 14 January 2013 when the remaining contractor workforce returns from leave.”

Idemitsu Australia Resources said its contractor workforce, managed by Downer EDI, would be taking annual leave be paid in accordance with agreed arrangements.

The workforce has responded positively to this solution, which allows allows the mine to reduce its stockpile levels prior to production restarting mid-January, the company said.

Meanwhile, stockbroker Patersons said the derailment would have a limited impact on production from Whitehaven’s Narrabri mine.

“Even if it [Whitehaven] has to suspend production, we expect that WHC will be able to juggle its delivery schedule at Newcastle and quickly make up any lost shipments. This is especially true at a time when producers are not straining against infrastructure limits due to low spot prices,” Patersons said in a research note.

“In our modelling we had taken the conservative assumption of 3Mt produced at Narrabri rather than the company’s 4Mtpa plan. In its latest report, Narrabri had in fact been producing above plan as the longwall ramped-up.

“Therefore, we expect that the mine will be able to produce at or above our modelled assumptions for FY13 without too much trouble and so not impact our valuation. “

Patersons has a price target of $3.54 for Whitehaven, which last traded on Friday at $3.18 .