August 10, 2010The Greens have called for the NSW Government to help fund a rail feasibility study as part of efforts to shift more freight onto rail and take trucks off the road.
Greens senate candidate Lee Rhiannon wants the NSW Government to contribute money toward a study of the Maldon to Dombarton rail line, which if completed will carry passengers and freight.
Labelling the rail line as a key part of its transport policy, the Greens claim it will deliver better transport options.
Speaking in the Illawarra region of NSW, Rhiannon criticised the NSW Government for overturning a curfew limiting trucks to operating between 7am and 6pm Monday to Saturday.
Trucks can now operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week but need to implement a code of conduct to manage speed limits, braking, loading and queuing.
Following on from comments last month that
truck registration fees should be higher, Rhiannon claims the move has led to more trucks on the road when the community has continually asked for fewer.
“The NSW Labor government has made policy decisions which have seen increasing numbers of trucks on our roads, including the then Planning Minister Kristina Keneally's decision to approve the lifting of the coal truck curfew,” Rhiannon says.
Greens candidate for Throsby Peter Moran claims the decision to lift the curfew will have “disastrous consequences for climate change and the environment”.
“Twenty four hour coal truck movements are noisy, polluting and dangerous,” he says.
“The Illawarra community want to see better transport options, including the completion of the Maldon-Dumbarton rail link.”