FAIR GO FOR RAIL

MEDIA RELEASE – 5th May 2023

 FAIR GO FOR RAIL

The President of the Hobart Northern Suburbs Rail Action Group, Toby Rowallan, today joined MLC Josh Willie on the railway line where Mr Willie called for an investigation into the costs of using the existing gauge for a rail service. Although one of the dozen or so reports produced in the past fifteen years did recommend retaining the existing gauge, the rest have ignored it, usually for poorly justified and questionable reasons.

Rail Action Group President Toby Rowallan said that “If Minister Ferguson claims that rail is not viable, then how can a busway be viable, given that according to their own report, a rail service will provide more than four times the benefits? All these reports and it seems as if the whole time they were looking for an excuse not to use the rail.”

Mr Rowallan added that “The State Government wants to destroy the railway from Glenorchy to Hobart, and replace it with a concrete busway. Yet a rail service would have at least double the passenger capacity. More buses won’t generate the increase in public transport use that we need. It won’t be able to handle the number of people they hope to fill the new stadium with.”

Mr Rowallan also said that “We are not advocating for some hugely expensive gold-plated system. What we have proposed is a basic, straightforward and affordable service. Everyone understands that Hobart’s public transport needs to be drastically improved. Our view is that using the existing gauge for a commuter rail service is the only sensible, practical and cost effective option. And it is the only option that can deliver a transformational change in Hobart’s public transport system and provide a far superior range of additional benefits.”

For further comment;

Toby Rowallan
President
Hobart Northern Suburbs Rail Action Group
0418 997 069