Guest essay by Eric Worrall

In two separate incidents, Extinction Rebellion protestors have attempted to disrupt coal transport in Queensland, Australia.

Protesters stop coal train in Brisbane

By AAP 1:13pm Apr 19, 2019

One protester is in custody and another was taken to hospital after activists stepped in front of a moving coal train headed for the Port of Brisbane.

The train driver was forced to slam on the emergency brakes after a group of protesters climbed onto the freight tracks in Wynnum on Thursday afternoon, police say.

“Then three men approached the carriages (and) one of them got up onto the carriage … the man wouldn’t come down,” a police spokesman told AAP on Friday.

…

About 2am on Friday, a woman activist chained herself to a concrete-filled 44-gallon drum placed on the same railway line in Wynnum West.

“She’s sat on the tracks and locked herself on,” the spokesman said.

…

Read more: https://www.9news.com.au/national/protesters-stop-coal-train-in-brisbane/b58d293d-6ca5-4093-9509-4a09ed4539b8

Two words for this – dangerous and irresponsible. Placing a heavy concrete obstacle on a train track endangers lives. Forcing a heavily laden coal train to apply emergency brakes could have caused a catastrophic accident.