Draw the line at Newcastle rail cuts

The train line running through Newcastle’s CBD has been under threat for years now.

At regular intervals the people of Newcastle have a new plan with a new risk analysis thrust before them – to cut the heavy rail line at Wickham or Civic, to build a new interchange, to turn the rail line into a ‘green zone’, to transport people to the city via a bus link.

Newcastle has a beautiful foreshore, and to property developers – the driving force behind the push to cut the heavy rail – the land would be better used for high-rise apartments or shopping centres than a rail line.

But developers aren’t thinking about the travelling public, they are only thinking about dollar signs.

Newcastle is a growing city, within the thriving Hunter region.

We need more transport infrastructure, not less.

Getting rid of the rail line – that’s brought generations of Hunter kids to the beach and ordinary working folk from the suburbs into the city to shop, work and enjoy the coast – would be a step in the wrong direction for Newcastle.

Closing the line would especially disadvantage the elderly, disabled people and parents with prams, who would all be forced to interchange from the train to a bus at Wickham to complete their journey to the CBD.

With 4,000 more people tipped to be living in the city centre after the redevelopment of the hospital, it does not make sense to pull out a major public transport link and deprive people of a major transport service.

There are many options for keeping the rail line and meeting other planning objectives: why not invest in better rail level crossings and pedestrian overpasses? Or put the line underground, with the cost offset by developing the corridor at ground level?

Once the heavy rail line is gone, it will never return. Progressive cities around the world are investing in more rail, not cutting it back.

Newcastle, which is experiencing strong population growth in its outer suburbs, also needs an overhaul of bus services.

People use buses in Newcastle out of necessity – but taking the bus is mostly an extremely unattractive proposition. Because we have too few routes, they are lengthy with many detours.

What could be done in a 30-minute car trip takes 1½ hours by bus. More direct routes and higher frequency would make bus travel much more viable and would contribute to making Newcastle the modern, liveable city we all want.

I was pleased to be at the launch of the Better Services campaign in Newcastle late last month.

For RTBU members in Newcastle, this campaign will provide a platform to fight for the protection and expansion our important public transport services in Newcastle.

We will be lobbying all local candidates to commit to keeping the rail line through the CBD and investing in better public transport.

It makes sense for jobs, it makes sense for economic growth, it makes sense for the environment and it makes sense for Newcastle.