THE Southern Tablelands Rail Users Group (STRUG) has welcomed announcements in the recent State Budget about rail infrastructure that will improve public transport and introduce more freight.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Budget allocated $1.3 billion for 2016-17 to renew and maintain the Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink networks, improving safety and reliability for customers.
The Budget also gave $10.5 million (part of a $15 million pilot) for Fixing Country Rail, kick starting a $400m program to upgrade country rail, including helping to open unused rail lines. A further $1bn has also been allocated for new suburban trains.
STRUG president Greg Price welcomed the Budget announcements, saying the re-opening of branch lines was a sign that the government was interested in getting more freight off roads and onto rail.
"The reason they are re-opening branch lines is because it is costing more money to maintain the roads than to re-open branch lines," Mr Price said.
While Mr Price acknowledged the investment in new suburban trains, he wanted and update on the refurbishment of Endeavour (NSW Trainlink trains) and Xplorer (XPT) trains.
It was an issue that that associate editor of Track and Signal Magazine Leon Oberg also wanted the State Government to clarify.
Mr Oberg said tenders had already been called for the refurbishment of the Xplorer and Endeavour trains.
"But they have not awarded the contracts, so nothing appears to have been done since the tenders were called," Mr Oberg said.
"I note the budget has announced $1 billion for new suburban carriages, but I recall they said they were going to replace country passenger trains (XPTs) prior to the last federal election.
"I recall the leader of the National Party (Troy Grant) made that announcement on the railway station at Dubbo before the last election. He also said that maintenance of country trains would be carried out in rural areas - but there is nothing in the budget to indicate this."
In relation Endeavour and Xplorer trains’ refurbishment, Mr Price said the group had lobbied for various improvements over the past few years.
"We have consistently said they need to make the seats more comfortable and they need better sealing to keep diesel fumes out," he said.
"They also need thermostatically controlled air conditioning - the controls are in the roof cavity and it is difficult to access them. We have been pushing for these changes for the last 2.5 years. We hope the suggestions that we have made about improvements are taken on board."
Meanwhile, Mr Oberg said he believed the branch lines to be re-opened would be the former ones that serviced wheat and grain silos.
"I have not been able to clarify which lines will be re-opened, but I have asked for clarification," he said.
The Next STRUG meeting will be held on Monday, July 4 at 7.30pm at GWC and it will be the annual planning session for the group.
"We had one in June last year and we got a lot of useful information out of that," Mr Price said.
"The committee decided it would be worthwhile to repeat it this year. We are keen to get ideas on where our campaigns need to be directed."