The Australian Greens today called on the Australian Rail and Track Corporation to cover coal wagons in light of new information that clearly identifies uncovered coal wagons as causing spikes in air particle pollution http://bit.ly/1lRDyGR.

"State and federal governments are protecting coal company profits by trying to hide or misrepresent crucial evidence that reveals high pollution levels linked with transporting coal in uncovered rail wagons," New South Wales Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon said.

"The ARTC has the power to help reduce the public health impacts of coal transportation and they should move immediately to have mining companies pay the costs of covering all coal train wagons.

"As the government body responsible for managing pollution reduction programs for the transport of coal in uncovered wagons the ARTC have failed to carry out their responsibilities.

"Two ARTC reports on pollution from last year initially found there was no significant difference between the dust levels from loaded coal trains compared to other types of freight trains. We now know this data was not accurately assessed.

"Government documents obtained by the Hunter Community Environment Centre show there is a significant increase in pollution when coal trains pass.

"The new information reflects badly on the ARTC as it reveals that their reporting obligations are fundamentally flawed or deliberately deceptive," Senator Rhiannon said.

Queensland Greens Senator, Larissa Waters, said:

"Communities living near coal train lines such as Brisbane, Mackay and Gladstone, deserve to know the truth about the impacts of coal dust on their health.

"With the massive expansion of coal mining across South East Queensland, coal train traffic through Brisbane and Ipswich is expected to double.

"This will spread even more coal dust through our suburbs, schools and homes, which is incredibly concerning, as breathing in even very small amounts of coal dust can have serious health implications.

"It's the coal trains that should be covered up, not important information about Queenslanders' health.

"It is simply not acceptable for a government owned corporation to be knowingly misleading the public and putting public health at risk, all for the sake of the coal industry.

"Coal trains should be covered, and the coal industry should be the ones to pay," Senator Waters said.