Zane Alcorn and Simon Butler, Newcastle
Ask almost any resident here what they think about the rail line running along the harbour foreshore and prepare yourself for a lengthy, fervent conversation. Since the NSW Labor government first proposed the closure of the Newcastle rail line in 2003, few other issues have stirred such passionate debate.
Pushing for the closure are some powerful interests including Newcastle Lord Mayor John Tate, NSW MP Michael Costa, the Fairfax-owned Newcastle Herald, Newcastle Trades Hall secretary Gary Kennedy, the business lobby group Newcastle Alliance and rapacious property developers all eager to lay claim to the transport corridor running along some of Newcastle's most lucrative harbourside real estate.
On the other side, grouped in Save Our Rail (SOR), are a determined alliance of community activists, trade unionists, environmentalists, surfers, cyclists, students, single parents, local MPs and councillors, disabled people, academics, small-business owners, retirees and progressive political parties including the Greens and the Socialist Alliance.
The NSW government-sponsored Lower Hunter Transport Working Group report, released in 2003, recommended cutting the rail line from Broadmeadow to Newcastle. It argued that the rail line was too costly, rail patronage was falling and that Newcastle would be better served by closing Hamilton, Wickham, Civic and Newcastle stations and building a major bus interchange at Broadmeadow. The conclusions of this report have been one of the major arguments advanced by those who want to remove the Newcastle rail line.
SOR secretary George Paris told Green Left Weekly that the report has some very clear inconsistencies and falsehoods. "The study didn't cover the Lower Hunter Transport network, it covered 5 kilometres of rail track", said Paris. "All the negative statements about the line are focused on Newcastle, but it is the people at Maitland and the Lake [Macquarie area] who will lose out the most if the line into Newcastle is cut. They have lied about ... closing the line. They have presented misleading surveys. The report even indicated that removing the rail line would improve land values, which contradicts evidence that shows the opposite is true."
Over the past two years, SOR has organised a series of events to demonstrate public opposition to the projected rail closure and advance arguments for the extension of public transport. Throughout 2004, SOR organised well-attended workshops in Wyong, Maitland, Newcastle University and Warners Bay; and a 600-strong meeting in Newcastle Town Hall.
SOR has also organised a number of demonstrations. "The 2005 May Day rally which, by all accounts, was the biggest in many years, was due to the fact that over half of the crowd showed up to support SOR", said Paris. "Most of us are unionists, and have a lot of respect for the unions."
The Newcastle University Student Association has played an important role in assisting the SOR campaign. NUSA transport officer Jack Thieme told Green Left Weekly that NUSA has given SOR the use of their office and amenities, as well as helping to finance and publicise SOR events.
NUSA has a history of successful public transport campaigns. The University (Warabrook) train station was finally built in 1996 after a protracted student-led campaign dating back to the late 1970s.
Replace rail with buses?
Thieme argues that keeping the rail line is important to students "because cheap accommodation for students is in the inner-city suburbs of Cooks Hill, Hamilton and Newcastle, and the rail is their most direct mode of public transport to university. A bus from Newcastle station takes about 45 minutes to get to uni but the train only takes 15. About 900 students per day catch the train to Warabrook station."
"The proposal to replace trains with buses between Newcastle and Broadmeadow will disadvantage many others as well", Thieme continued. "Cyclists will be affected because you can't take bikes on buses. Also affected will be wheelchair users who can only use special buses, parents commuting with young children in prams and people carrying surfboards to the beach."
SOR chairperson Joan Dawson agreed that "human need" versus "developer greed" are the two opposing values in the debate over the Newcastle rail line, arguing that it is the poor who will be overwhelmingly affected by the rail closure. "The people who most want the rail removed will not have their life changed if it is. They will still drive their big cars", Dawson told Green Left Weekly.
"But the people who use the line, and some who need the line, will have a dramatically altered lifestyle as a result; for example, blind people cannot have independence to travel except on a train." Many rely on the train service in Newcastle to reach the Royal Blind Society offices near Hamilton train station.
Paris argued that people with any sort of reduced mobility will be badly affected by the closure. "All people need the independence of being able to travel and the Newcastle train helps provide that." SOR activists also point out that with an ageing population, high petrol prices and the need to reduce air pollution from car use, the NSW government should be investing in public transport infrastructure rather than reducing it. "Rail is the most sustainable form of public transport and has more than double the capacity of any other transport option", said Paris.
Dawson said that because neither of the major parties have come up with a plan for improving the rail service or patronage for Newcastle, "SOR has taken the initiative" and come up with its own plan "to improve the Hunter transport network because cutting the line won't work".
Darrel Harris, who is involved in formulating SOR's alternative transport proposals, argued that many of the existing problems with the rail service could be easily dealt with. The main problem, he said, is the lack of political will. Harris said that service times should be altered to better reflect peak travel times in the Newcastle area, which would also boost patronage. Also, he said, many important stations in the Hunter and Lake Macquarie areas suffer from poor pedestrian and vehicular access.
Harris explained that contrary to the disinformation spread by those wanting to close the rail line, there has been an increase in patronage over the past few years. He said the use of the train line has increased by default due to road traffic congestion, rather than through any comprehensive transport plan.
Reduce fares
Harris told Green Left Weekly that reducing fares is another component of SOR's integrated transport proposal. He cited the example of the Brisbane public bus network, which recently reduced fares and gained an 11% increase in patronage over a year. This increase returned higher revenues despite the fare drop.
SOR's current transport plan advocates free bus, train and ferry transport in the whole lower Hunter region, covering trips between Cessnock, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens and Newcastle.
The public unveiling of SOR's transport plan is being organised to coincide with Railfest, a public celebration of the Newcastle train line sponsored by SOR, on October 2.
Tess Lieberman, one of SOR's Railfest organisers, told Green Left Weekly that the day will be a family picnic day with a focus on celebrating and raising awareness of the rail service. "We are going to have a giant conga train, the best-dressed train competition, raffles, an auction of goods, local musicians, belly dancers and model train displays", Lieberman said. A number of environmental groups, political organisations and local businesses are assisting with Railfest.
Not coincidentally, Railfest will take place on the same day as the state government's official celebration marking 150 years of rail transport in NSW. According to Lieberman, "we wanted Railfest to be a more accessible way for people of all ages and walks of life to demonstrate to the state government that there is broad community support for keeping the rail line".
[Railfest will be held at 11am on October 2 in the Newcastle Foreshore Park, near the Railway Carriage Sheds. For more information, phone Jack on 0423 673 307.]
From Green Left Weekly, September 28, 2005.
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