RAIL: the new government line

Mr Nye said his peak body had been trying to get Canberra interested in tackling passenger rail investment issues for years.
Grand nation-building efforts, such as the Melbourne-Brisbane inland rail link, remain as studies for now, along with any upgrading of grain rail, though the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has already received funding to deal with existing north-south links.
The ARTC released the results of the first stage of the Melbourne-Brisbane Inland Rail Alignment Study earlier this month.
“Separately in the coming financial year the government will pay the majority of its $1.2bn capital injection into the Australian Rail Track Corporation,” the government said.
“This transaction was part of the December stimulus package, with the funds being used to upgrade the Hunter’s coal export chain as well as other key sections of the interstate rail network.”
The by-product of the government’s new approach should be to take cars off city roads and split some freight and country routes from urban passenger lines by mid-way through the next decade, if all goes to plan.
“The government has recognised the vital role that rail plays in Australia’s economy and especially in making our cities more liveable, efficient and accessible,” Mr Nye said.
“Projects such as the Victorian Regional Rail Express are critical to the transformation of rail to provide extensive people movement capacity for the betterment of our societies.
“This is a crucial time for Australia and the government has done the right thing by ensuring rail is part of the solution to the challenges we face today.
“We now need the Federal Government to set up a national infrastructure coordinator with powers over state and local governments to ensure the projects are rapidly implemented.
“We can no longer afford the delays caused by the myriad of planning approvals at local levels.”