Ladysmith Railway Station, Tumbarumba Road
Ladysmith, Via Wagga Wagga
Public
Liability Crisis and Tumbarail
Yes, what you have heard in the media lately is true. On
April 30, Tumbarail's access agreement with Rail Infrastructure Corporation
will expire, as will our current Public Liability policy. This means that
without a current insurance policy, we are unable to sign a 12 month extension
to our Access Agreement with RIC.
In our association with the Regional
Heritage Transport Association Junee (Roundhouse Museum Junee), Tumbarail
have a current insurance policy. The best price we had initially received for another
policy was up to $30,000 for 12 months cover. The current price going is now
$5,200 from a Wollongong insurer. At present, this price is still out of
our range. To afford to pay this, we would need to take $420 a month, not
including our regular visits from Schools, Community Groups, etc and yet, this
monthly figure does not include other incidentals such as rent, water, rates,
taxes, vehicle repairs and upkeep. Even with our best
days, we are far from able to raise the funds required to pay for such cover,
let alone save for other bills such as water, rates, leases and other
materials required to pay for repairs to the yard, line and vehicles.
All avenues have now been pursued and none remain - this
includes the Insurer started by the NSW Labor Government, Community Care
Underwriting (CCU). It should be noted that all our rail
vehicles are inspected and approved by the NSW Department of Transport yearly,
and that we have enjoyed an injury free record since the time we first started work,
even before the first passenger was carried. All our members (they are all
volunteers) are trained and are kept up-to-date on the latest aspects, rules
and regulations of rail safety.
April 18, 2003
On April 8 at 3.57pm, Tumbarail
along with the 5 other groups in NSW received a facsimile from Jacquelene
Irwin of Rail Infrastructure Corporation. (The other groups in NSW being
Crookwell, Guyra, Armidale, Glen Innes and Tenterfield - see our links
page for their sites) The main hurdle is now back to the Insurers. In RICs
words, "The CCU Insurance
meets all RIC's requirements except Clause 9.3(a) - the requirement for RIC to
be named as one of the insured. Listing RIC as an 'other party' and
'principal' is not the same and does not meet RIC's requirements" is the
specific wording of the fax received. It has now been stated by RIC that the reason for
insisting to be named co-insured is so that if Tumbarail or any other operator
were to dissolve and a claim had been made in the 2 years previous and were
ongoing, then RIC would take over the claim, and not issues as previously
thought.
Recently, support has come from the Ladysmith
Progress Association who have expressed interest in continuing our restoration
work should we depart.
Presently, it is anticipated that we
will not be out of action for more than a few months, however this does hinge
on RIC and the Insurers coming to an agreement with wording of a policy.
April 28, 2003
A meeting is planned between RIC and
CCU for tomorrow, April 29 and is expected to discuss the insurance matter
further. After a visit from the Local Member for Wagga Wagga, Daryl Maguire at
our last weekend run on April 26, he mentioned that he has written to Michael
Costa, Minister for Transport to discuss our plight, and that of others within
NSW. We expect to hear the result of this meeting by the end of the day on
April 29.
LATEST
UPDATE - APRIL 29, 2003
The meeting
between RIC and CCU happened today. The outcome after much discussion between
the parties involved was that CCU refused to agree with RIC's demands and as a
result, Tumbarail have officially ceased running operations. We are now
seeking static insurance to allow us to maintain the buildings and yard but
are unable, as a result of the loss of access, to keep up maintenance of the
infrastructure. (This means the line, sleepers, weeds, etc on or about the
line itself)
It is intended
that when we are able to attain a static insurance policy, that we will
continue to meet at the Ladysmith station to perform maintenance.
What does this
mean in brief? That Tumbarail can continue to maintain and have access the
property and buildings, but will not be able to run the vehicles along the
line. Not even for ourselves. The public will be able to walk, in designated
areas, between the station, goods shed and gang shed to look, but not be able
to ride one of our rail vehicles.
Daryl Maguire has
met with Michael Costa today, and continues to fight for our survival and
re-instatement of access to the line.
We'll keep you up-to-date, keep checking back here for further news, as it
happens!
April 29, 2003