The study was launched in response to calls for coal trains travelling through suburban Newcastle to be covered. The MC commissioned wind tunnel testing to determine the benefits of spraying coal with water or a chemical veneer.
The study has been called a “waste of money” by the Coal Terminal Action Group, which has since commissioned its own research.
"The study with a wind tunnel is using a very over-simplified design, they won't get the real types of wind that a real coal train would experience,” CTAG spokesman George Barnes told the ABC.
Groups have questioned why a coal industry-funded study into coal train dust pollution is using laboratory tests, rather than real trains.
They also say that the study does not look at options besides a chemical veneer, such as washing the wagons, tightening underneath restraints and covering the wagons.
