Maitland rail users are expected to have a loud voice at a Newcastle rally on Sunday designed to stop the Wickham truncation.
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Rally for the Rail will start at Pacific Park on the Newcastle Foreshore and follow a police escort to Civic Park, where participants will hear from guest speakers.
“Maitland has been very engaged with this issue and we’re expecting a large number of people,” Save Our Rail vice-president and Maitland resident Kim Cross said.
“We’ve been speaking to a lot of young people on the train and we’re hoping they will come along too.”
An alliance of 16 community groups, including Save Our Rail and the Hunter Environment Lobby, have organised the rally.
Yellow is the rally’s official colour, to represent hope.
The Premier Mike Baird visited Newcastle last week when he re-affirmed his commitment to cut the line at Wickham and acknowledged development opportunities along the rail corridor.
Mrs Cross hoped to see at least 1000 people take part in the peaceful rally, which will start 10.30am and run for about two hours.
“This is our statement to say the debate is not over, it’s only beginning,” she said.
“A lot of people are distressed about the [rail cut] and want to make a big statement.”
Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes will be among the guest speakers at Civic Park, alongside Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp.
