Maitland residents opposing the truncation of the Newcastle rail line gathered at Civic Park for a rally calling for better planning across the Hunter.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Local commuters unhappy with plans to cut the rail line short of the city centre joined about 400 people on Saturday for the Hunter Deserves Better Rally.
As part of the community-organised event, supporters spoke about a range of topics,
from the truncation of the rail line to coal seam gas at Gloucester.
Maitland resident Francis Young was among them.
“The Wickham truncation must be stopped and a feasibility study conducted into a tunnel,” Mr Young said.
“Why has a tunnel proposal never been publicly evaluated when it alone solves the inner city congestion entirely and, because a tunnel does not interfere with traffic – allows more frequent trains, increasing, rather than reducing, mass transit capability during peak hours and after major events?”
Earlier this year concerned travellers gathered outside Parliament House in Sydney to protest against plans to cut the line, while Mr Young turned to the Mercury’s website to suggest the government build an underground rail tunnel between Wickham and Newcastle stations rather than rip up the line.
“It [a tunnel] liberates the city and foreshore from surface clutter, while retaining the amenity and capacity of non-stop intercity rail,” Mr Young said.
“Now is the right time to do a feasibility study of a rail tunnel.”
