The Glenelg Shire welcomed the State Budget announcement that brings rail standardisation a step closer for Western Victoria. The announcement is the result of a four year campaign by Councils in Western Victoria to bring the economies of North West and South West Victoria closer together.
Glenelg Shire, based around Portland in Victoria, has a population of 20,000 and is the export hub of the West of the State.
In 1992/93 the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments agreed to convert the rail line from Melbourne to Adelaide to standard gauge as part of a national rail link project. Several lines in the Wimmera and in Victoria’s South West were also converted to facilitate the export of grain from the Port of Portland.
This effectively created two separate rail networks with different access regimes and two incompatible sets of rolling stock.
“We could catch a train from Portland to Brisbane or Perth, but not to Ballarat or Bendigo,” Glenelg Shire Chief Executive, Geoff Kohlman said.
In the last 20 years, there has been close to 50 reports recommending the standardisation of rail gauges in Victoria. The current State Government allocated funds in the Regional Infrastructure Development Fund for rail standardisation as part of its 1999 election platform.
“The decisions that led to the establishment of different rail gauges in different states were made prior to Federation,” Geoff Kohlman said. “It is appropriate in the Centenary of Federation year that we take a major step towards bringing our national rail network together.”
“We are delighted that the Bracks Government is a step closer to fulfilling its election commitment to standardising all of Victoria’s broad gauge freight lines,” he added.
Standardising the North West freight lines will lead to substantial savings on rail freight costs for Mallee farmers.
The announcement also paves the way for Victoria to capture the benefits of Western Victoria’s mineral sand deposits. While Portland was the ‘port of choice’ for developers of these deposits, rail access was driving these exports to ports in other states.
“Victoria will benefit through hundreds of jobs being created in downstream processing of these minerals,” Geoff Kohlman said.
For further information contact Geoff Kohlman, telephone (03) 5522 2200.
