Inland Rail cancellation good news for western NSW

THE news in the article ‘Cut to rail route sparks fury from farmers and regions’ that farmers and people in the regions are furious that the Inland Rail project has been cancelled certainly does not apply to the majority of those along the intended route from Parkes to the Queensland border.

Included in these happy people are the many farmers whose properties would have been split in two by the rail track and would have needed a level crossing, including warning lights, to get from one half of their farm to the other. Where the line would have traversed the flat black soil plains for 200 kms a four-metre-high embankment would have been required, meaning that farmers could not get to the cut-off part of their property.

The embankment would also have been a long “dam” that, in wet years, would have inundated hundreds of hectares of valuable farming land.

The fact that the banked-up water would only have been on one side, and therefore would soak only into the bottom of that side of the embankment, would have created a high risk of it collapsing when trains were travelling on it.

The latest estimate of the total cost ($45 billion) is totally misleading. Not included is the cost of a massive gas storage facility at Gwabegar and livestock loading facilities and grain silos all along the line and the cost of providing large rail sidings for all of these.

Very large loading/unloading systems would also be required at Beveridge in Victoria and Gladstone and Kagarin in Queensland.

Taking into consideration the above costs, I believe a more realistic total estimate for the completion of the Inland Rail project is $70 billion.

The initial and ongoing costs of Inland Rail far exceed the benefits to the people, businesses and communities of Victoria, NSW and Queensland.

Australia is indeed fortunate that the Federal Government has cancelled this “white elephant” project.

Regards,

Mike Dibbs,

Port Macquarie.