Opponents to the state government’s plans to cut the rail line into Newcastle CBD will protest in Maitland next week.
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The protest has been labelled as a reaction to an unwanted Christmas gift, a reference to plans to close the rail line at Broadmeadow on Boxing Day.
Save Our Rail spokeswoman Kim Cross said the protest, Maitland Rally For Rail, would begin at Maitland train station on Thursday, July 31, at 11am.
The group will walk along Church Street to Turner Rest Park, near Maitland police station, to hear from speakers from noon to 1pm.
“It is not only the fact that the government wants to axe the service that is appalling, but also the fact that it plans to do so without a mandate and before the community can make its voice heard at the ballot box,” Mrs Cross said.
“The Wickham terminus has not yet been designed, let alone made subject to tender, and the Hunter-Scott Street tramway is still a thought bubble.
“There is absolutely no justification to force rail commuters off the train at Hamilton or Broadmeadow if construction has not genuinely commenced.
“Travel times for rail commuters into Newcastle and even to Sydney could blow out significantly, to the extent that rail transport will no longer be viable for many of them.”
