Govt snubs rail upgrade bid

The New South Wales Government has rejected calls to fund an upgrade of the rail branch line between Armatree and Coonamble.

Representatives from the Coonamble Shire Council recently met the Transport Minister to discuss concerns about the track's condition.

General manager John Griffiths says David Campbell appeared to understand the issues but told council there is no money available for branch lines.

Mr Griffiths says they will now approach the Commonwealth for funding.

"At this point in time there's no light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

"Council is looking to move to the federal area and see if we can get at least part of the funding and if they would come to the party the producers and the State Government I believe will follow suit."

He says the rail line is in disrepair.

"In addition to the current producers there's been a couple of development proposals that have had to sit in and wait because it's not viable for them with the exorbitant time it takes for a train to get to Gilgandra, so we've been pushing very hard to get that line upgraded," he said.being met and to find out particularly those movements between the towns rather than just within the towns," she said.


Source: abc.net.au