Colombian Court Further Restricts Coal Railway

Colombia’s Constitutional Court has extended a restriction on the overnight use of the country’s main coal railway, Fenoco, according to Reuters, and has partially suspended construction work on an adjacent track for three months.

After imposing a ban in February on trains crossing the town of Bosconia in Cesar province for a six-hour overnight period, the court has extended the restriction to Magdalena province, which the line also crosses.

The Fenoco railway is jointly owned by three major coal miners, U.S based Drumond, Glencore unit Prodeco and Goldman Sachs’ Colombian Natural Resources(CNR).

Ruling on a complaint by communities in three Magdalena municipalities of noise pollution, the court has also suspended work in Magdalena on construction of a second, adjacent track, for a three month period.

The work is suspended while the court investigates whether the construction was undertaken without prior consultation with the community beforehand.