Western Australian Opposition raises concerns over the impending closure of rail lines in the Wheatbelt region of the State
June 14, 2013
The Western Australian Opposition has raised concerns over the impending closure of rail lines in the Wheatbelt region of the State.
Labor MP Darren West is concerned the closure of the region’s Tier 3 rail lines, expected to be in October, will have a negative road safety impact because of the extra trucks that will be needed to cart grain to port.
“I am concerned about the road safety impacts of the closing of Tier 3 railway lines. I am concerned about all the extra trucks that will come onto our roads because there are families in cars, with women and children, who will constantly be passing these trucks on roads that are not suitable for the purposes for which we are using them,” West says.
He says the rail line have served the region well for more than 100 years, carrying “countless hundreds of millions of tonnes of grain to port”.
He says the region’s roads were not built to handle large amount of trucks.
The Government adopted the recommendations of a report to close Tier 3 rail lines. It plans to invest funds into upgrading local and state roads.
