Rip up our railway? Please ask us what we want.

Dear rail supporters,

We'd like to ask you to write to the NSW Labor Shadow Minister for Regional Transport and our local MP, Janelle Saffin, to request that they ask for an inquiry into the proposed "Rail Trail Amendment Bill" which will be considered in Parliament soon. You could use any of the points mentioned below.

Please state - I am writing to request that you agree to an inquiry to be undertaken into this Bill before any other discussion

Many people across NSW would like to know why the current government plans to place decisions regarding unused railway lines in the hands of the Transport Minister alone. How can there be any real checks and balances to ensure that communities will be consulted about their railway lines, or local public transport?

·       There needs to be community consultation about this bill before it is passed

·       A cost benefit analysis or a business plan

·       How does the community benefit from the proposed change to legislation?

It is difficult to see where there has been any previous community consultation on this issue so it’s hard to believe that the government is saying that they will consult once the bill goes through.

"The Rail Trail Framework" makes no mention of the fact that residents of Northern NSW have been requesting for many years that the rail tracks be used for public transport or multi-use and NOT for Bike Trails alone. 

The Framework does not mention that Byron Shire Council has done extensive research into "multi-use of the line" and has been working with Transport NSW to establish multi-use of the train lines in Byron Shire. 

The "Framework" and the "Rail Trail Evaluation" do not mention the existence of railway companies who are working to re-establish use of the train tracks for transport.

No mention has been made about the Byron Solar Train which has been successfully established as a transport service on the railway track between Byron Bay and Sunrise Beach for some years now. In fact there is no mention of the multi-use option in these documents at all. 

I would further like to ask why - has Victoria successfully been granted $4 Billion for their "Big Build" Regional Rail Revival.

With an investment of more than $4 billion, the Regional Rail Revival program will see upgrades to every regional railway in Victoria.

Where is the comparative investment in NSW Regional Rail ? Why are NSW Regional communities missing out ? We've already lost the line at Murwillumbah and Casino, we don't need to lose any more of the possibility to see trains on our tracks.

I sincerely request that the answers to these questions be investigated in a parliamentary inquiry as to why bike tracks are being used as a reason to rip up valuable irreplaceable train infrastructure.

Please send this to - Jennifer Aitcheson, Shadow Minister for Regional Transport, maitland@parliament.nsw.gov.au - phone: (02)49331617

Janelle Saffin: lismore@parliament.nsw.gov.au - phone: (02)66213624

You could also send this to Chris Minns, Opposition leader of NSW Labor, 02  9587 9684 Email: kogarah@parliament.nsw.gov.au

 Warm regards,

Beth Shelley

0423 030 346