Protect the New England Rail Line, A  Strategic National  Asset.

The recent decision by the Australian Government to scale back the Inland Rail to Parkes has created a critical gap in Australia’s inland freight network between northern New South Wales and Queensland.

In this new context, the existing but dormant Armidale–Tenterfield–Toowoomba rail corridor must be recognised as a strategic national asset, not a redundant line.

Unlike Inland Rail, this corridor:

already exists and avoids costly new alignments

provides a direct inland link toward Queensland
can be restored in stages at significantly lower cost

supports regional freight, agriculture, and Renewable Energy Zones

Premature conversion of this corridor into a rail trail would permanently foreclose a nationally significant transport option.

Accordingly:

The Australian Government should initiate a strategic review of the New England rail corridor as a potential inland freight alternative to complement or substitute the truncated Inland Rail program.

The New South Wales Government should place an immediate moratorium on rail corridor removals in northern NSW pending this review.

No public funding or approvals should be granted for rail trail proposals that require removal of rail infrastructure on this corridor, including proposals advanced by Armidale Regional Council and Glen Innes Severn Council.

This is not a question of recreation versus rail — it is a question of national infrastructure preservation.

Once the tracks are removed, the opportunity to deliver a cost-effective inland rail connection is lost indefinitely. At a time when Australia has no clear inland route north of Parkes, protecting this corridor is both prudent and necessary.