Re: Murwillumbah

[lockstar@my-deja.com]

Sadly this much neglected section of railway still remains an ignored
asset.

Im doubtful if we'll ever see any upgrading or links to the Gold Coast
in our generation.

As many will know there has been plans and dreams to link Murwillumbah
to the Gold Coast by rail for years.  Some thought the new link would
travel up along the existing highway before crossing the Tweed just
north of Banora Point before following the Tweed Heads bypass rejoining
a southern extension of the Gold Coast Railway to Coolangatta.  It seems
however that the new route of the Gold Coast Railway extension is to
follow a similar route to the much bickered about (as to who would fund
it and where it would go) Tugun bypass.  The original Gold Coast Railway
extended as far as Coolangatta in the early days, and much of the
railway reservation has since been transformed into the Gold Coast and
Pacific Highways (ie between Coolangatta and Tugun the Gold Coast Hwy
was originally the railway reserve, and Golden Four Drive was the main
north-south road, and between Tugun and Tallebudgera Creek the Pacific
Highway has been built on the old railway reserve.)

Hopefully, when the GCR extension is built to the Coolangatta Airport,
obviously having its station on the western side, somewhere near the new
bypass, there will be allowances made to continue it into NSW.  Its easy
to guess though, that by the time a link is actually approved and
constructed, any connection to Murwillumbah is unlikely.  The new line
will most likely follow the coastal strip down as far as ... who knows
... Byron Bay or beyond.  By the time it comes around to being built,
there will probably be enough development and urbanisation along this
route to warrant construction.  Maybe then there will be some sort of a
link to the Casino-Murwillumbah line ... coinciding with a fast rail
link between Brisbane and Sydney.

Right now most of this sounds like pie in the sky, and for the moment we
can leave rail links on the shelf and concentrate on watching the
millions being spent on much needed road upgrading.  Its only logical
considering these days the roads are used far more than the rails.
Everyone wants to drive to and through the NSW north coast, and why
wouldnt they?  There is much commercial and freight traffic also ... the
rail is hardly used for that today ... so its obvious why the roads, in
particular the Pacific Highway, is being upgraded so dramatically.

We have already seen the magnificent Tweed Heads and Chinderah bypasses
open to traffic, but the amount spent on them was chicken feed compared
to the 260 million being spent on the Yelgun-Chinderah motorway, and
another 93 million on dual carriageways between Yelgun and Brunswick
Heads, 48 million between the Brunswick Heads Bypass and Tyagarah, 24
million on an interchange at Ewingsdale (for Byron Bay Rd), 62 million
on dual carriageways between St Helena and Bangalow, and another 154
million on a 15km bypass for Ballina.  Thats in excess of 640 million
dollars upgrading the Pacific Highway to dual carriageways almost all
the way from Ballina to Tweed Heads ... and when all this is completed,
the Casino-Murwillumbah line may still be the same as today.

Lachlan Sims


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