For many a mine hopeful in the Pilbara, those very hopes have been dashed by the lack of access to rails and trains.

Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton have their own train sets, so they are okay.

Actually, this access to train sets played a key part in then Mines Minister John Bowler using his “public interest” powers to hand the Shovelanna prospect back to Rio Tinto after Cazaly had got up there.

In Queensland the race is on to develop rail lines to make hitherto unheralded basins such as the Galilee realistic prospects.

So too to the south in the infrastructure-hungry New South Wales coal fields.

A potential hurdle could loom on the horizon for these pushes though if the North American experience is anything to go by.

Both the US and Canada have been hit with a spate of train incidents – one of them fatal – in just the past month.

The most recent was a derailment on the weekend that led to a couple of acres of wheat stubble being burnt.

Many of these derailments have been due to excessive heat affecting the rails – not an uncommon problem in Australia.

The most serious was on July 4 when a 138-coal train derailed and fell from an overpass in a northern Chicago suburb. Burton and Zorine Linder were killed in their car, which was sitting under the bridge. The weight of the train, which was going from Wyoming to Wisconsin, brought the bridge down with it.

The victims’ family has reportedly filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the train’s owner United Pacific.

So what does this have to do with Australia?

It is yet another weapon the anti-mining groups can use to try to stymie mining developments.

No matter how well the planning is done, there will be occasions where these train lines will have to come near built up areas. Train safety, given the US experience, will become one of the catchcrys to try and stop the developments.

Too far fetched?

Not really. Consider our beloved Treasurer Wayne Swan – now he’s definitely no goose – has publicly said he regrets not going harder at mining magnates such as Andrew Forrest, Clive Palmer and Gina Rinehart.

Interestingly, two of the three have rail aspirations. Indeed, Forrest has built his rail infrastructure and Palmer is in the process.

This article first appeared in ILN's sister publication MiningNews.net..