Old lines

["Shane Polle" <ShaneP@amc.aust.com>]

When is an old diused railway line, simply mothballed, or reserved for possible future use or simply a form of industrial polution.

There are a number of now closed lines which are pretty much intact and would only take a couple of months and a mil or two to make the line servicable. Ie the MT Gambier line. 

But what about the lines like the Tumut line, the Cooma line (more south of Cooma) and the Hay line, all with large sections missing and cuttings distroyed, sleepers which are more dust than timber etc.

Most of these lines would need to be rebuilt from the base up, some couldn't even be reopened with their current outdated alignment. There is always critism when a line is closed and then ripped up, but shouldn't there be a use by date to remove the rails etc, when it is even obvious to the strongest railfan that tht line is history. The land could still be resevered as a railway reserve. 

Shane