AFTER struggling to get much traction with their election priorities four years ago, the Rail Revival Alliance is launching a fresh push for 2018 – and it wants people from every region in Victoria to play a part.
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The group will hold a conference in Castlemaine later this month to create a set of united regional and country rail policies to present to political parties in the run-up to this year’s state election.
The event is held in conjunction with the Northwest Rail Alliance and will help prioritise rail projects across the state – from the north east to Warrnambool.
For Bendigo commuters, the group believes its plan to create a rail link from Bendigo to Geelong via Castlemaine, Maryborough and Ballarat should be a main priority.
The Rail Revival Alliance is also pushing for a freight rail terminal at Leichardt, between Marong and Bridgewater, reinstating tracks to connect to Inglewood.
The section of line was extensively damaged during floods.
Councils have been attempting to establish the freight hub for several years, but have focused on road freight rather than rail.
Rail Revival Alliance president Noel Laidlaw said it would be relatively cheap to connect the planned freight hub at Leichardt to the state’s freight rail network.
“I remember years ago when there would be 10 freight trains arriving in Bendigo a night, but now there’s no freight rail,” he said.
“It’s logical to reopen the line to Leichardt with a standard gauge link to Bendigo for freight.
“Freight rail hubs need to be established across the state to reduce the number of trucks on the road and one freight train can take 110 trucks off the road.
“The number of trucks kept in a holding pattern at the Geelong Grain Terminal is an indictment on the lack of investment in freight rail infrastructure and a cause of embarrassment to the government and opposition.”
The Rail Revival Alliance hopes that having a combined rail policy will stop political parties from using distance to “divide and rule” regional commuter interests.
The regional rail conference will be held at 1pm on Saturday, March 24, at the Castlemaine Railway Station platform 3.