Districts appeal for standard rail lines
By PHILIP HOPKINS
Municipalities in Victoria's south-west have launched a campaign to have the
country rail network standardised in order to generate economic development in
the region.
Standardising the rail lines would open up the ports of Portland and Geelong
to produce from southern New South Wales, South Australia, and more of
north-west Victoria. The councils claim the trade could be worth millions of
dollars to the local economy.
They are not just focusing on grain, but also products such as timber, mineral
sands and the emerging food products of the Murray irrigation area.
At present Victoria is divided between rail lines that use the national
standard gauge (4 feet 8 inches) and the historic broad gauge (5 feet 3
inches), which is a legacy of the 19th century.
The cost of standardising all the rail lines in the state would be about $120
million.
Leading the campaign is the newly formed South-West Municipalities Group,
which has teamed up with the City of Greater Geelong on the issue. The
south-west group consists of the shires of Corangamite, Glenelg, Moyne,
Pyrenees, Southern Grampians, Colac Otway and Surf Coast, and the rural cities
of Warrnambool and Ararat.
A delegation from the councils met the federal Minister for Transport, Mr Mark
Vaile, last week.
A member of the delegation to Canberra, Geelong's economic development
manager, Mr Stuart Walker, said creating more dual-gauged lines was not the
answer. He said the technology existed to convert 15 kilometres of broad-gauge
track to standard gauge a day but the will was needed.
He said the Federal Government had to recognise this was a national issue. The
State Government had not wanted to fund the revamp ahead of privatisation of V
Line Freight.
Mr Walker said the group was pleased with the response from Mr Vaile, who
"seemed to be aware of the key issues".
Mr Vaile had emphasised that the Federal Government was committed to rail
reform, with investment plans of $250 million, but the national track was to
get priority.
However, he urged the delegation to return with a more detailed submission
that the Government could realistically consider, Mr Walker said.
At present the standard gauge enters Victoria at Albury, goes to Melbourne,
then on to and through Geelong before swinging north to Ararat and continuing
to Adelaide through Horsham.
The national standard gauge, however, does not connect to the Port of Geelong,
which is serviced by broad gauge. Thus, Geelong is cut off from most of the
potential markets of southern NSW, which use standard gauge.
The Port of Portland, on the other hand, is connected to the standard gauge
line by an arm to Ararat. Portland's main link to the all-important wheat belt
of the north-west is via two small but economically vital northern arms
respectively from Murtoa to Hopetoun and Dimboola to Yaapeet.
Thus, according to the south-west councils, the Port of Portland is locked out
of the rich agricultural areas of the north-west from Mildura, Ouyen, Swan
Hill and the Goulburn Valley, which are all on the broad gauge.
The only connection to the broad-gauge network is via an interchange at
Dunolly, just north of Maryborough, which requires double handling of freight.
To transport grain and other bulk produce from the north-west by road to
Portland is too expensive.
According to the councils, rail standardisation to eradicate this chaotic
situation is a form of micro-economic reform that is as vital as any in
Australia.
The councils also maintain that transporting more bulk freight by rail would
lessen the impact on local roads and the cost of maintaining them.