This article, by Philip Laird, was published in the Conversation on 13 June, 2023:
Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Illawarra business leaders call for abandoned Maldon-Dombarton rail line to get back on track + NOTES
From RAILPAGE
Updated yesterday by www.
The 35-kilometre long partially-constructed rail line between Maldon and Dombarton south of Sydney was abandoned in 1988 after significant earth works and land acquisition had already been done.
But with the burgeoning aerotropolis springing up from around Western Sydney Airport, business leaders in the Illawarra are calling for renewed investment from the state and federal governments to get the line up and running.
NSW Ports CEO Marika Calfas said the aerotropolis was a “game changer” requiring a new rail link between the Sydney’s west and the key transport hub at Port Kembla.
“If you look at it in that context, the Maldon Dumbarton line is absolutely critical,” she said, adding the current line between Sydney and the Illawarra which hugs the coast didn’t have capacity to handle the freight required to build a new city in the west.
The partially built Dombarton to Maldon rail bridge. Picture: NSW Government
“Going up the south coast line then going out west from there is not going to be an option going forward because there isn’t the capacity in the line.”
“The western Sydney area is going to have three million people – you’ve got to get cement there, sand, all those products to build housing and infrastructure – if you don’t have rail connectivity from Illawarra to western Sydney, all of that has to go by truck.”
“I think it has come off governments’ agenda – and it needs to come back on the agenda.”
NSW Ports CEO Marika Calfas said the aerotropolis needed a new rail link between the Sydney’s west and the key transport hub at Port Kembla. . Picture: Max Mason-Hubers
Then-Federal infrastructure shadow minister Anthony Albanese pledged $50m to completing the line ahead of the 2019 election, but following that election loss the Commonwealth has no plans for the project.
Hectic weather events which knocked out the Moss Vale-Unanderra rail line which links the south and west of the state with Sydney for months last year, further exposing the need for a southwest rail link, Business Illawarra’s executive director Adam Zarth said.
The unfinished Dombarton to Maldon rail bridge. Picture: NSW Government
A 2021 study by the group found a south west Illawarra rail link would deliver an economic benefit of $2.8 billion by 2036 to the region.
“It’s been really endorsed as the only future rail solution to connect the Illawarra to Greater Sydney because of the frailty of the south coast line,” he said.
“If we’re to get real about economic development and growing our freight and supply chain, we need to utilise this.
“Once that western Sydney airport comes online, there’s a massive … employment and demand for better freight connectivity to keep our economy moving. It’ll support two cities.”
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NOTES WTC:
Completion of the 35 km Maldon Dombarton rail link would improve separation of freight and passenger trains within Sydney and get them off the congested Sydenham Sutherland line
In 2014, the NSW Department of Planning gave approval to Boral to increase road haulage of quarry products from its Dunmore quarry, and stated that "Boral is unable to increase the amount of product supplied by rail ...as it is unable to gain access to additional rail paths or utilise longer trains;..."
This situation of rail congestion has recently repeated itself in regards to Manildra wishing to open an export facility at Port Kembla for ethanol. The Company has claimed in advice during 2022 to the NSW Government and others, that Rail paths to Bomaderry are allocated to rail operators by Sydney Trains, which is a NSW Government Department. Manildra’s rail operator has been allocated 14 rail paths to Bomaderry, which are fully utilised. The Main Line Network Owner (Sydney Trains) is adamant that no further rail paths are available due to the requirements of the passenger service which operates between Kiama and Bomaderry on a frequent operational schedule.
The South Coast line linking Sydney to Port Kembla was by the mid 2010s operating at near full capacity during the day and for some of the night. The Moss Vale Unanderra line has severe speed-weight restrictions and extra distance for freight moving between Port Kembla and Western Sydney. It was also not operating for several months during 2022.
Sunday, August 7, 2022
Manildra opts for A Double Tankers instead of Rail
35 Metre A Double trucks are much longer than B Doubles which are longer than 19 metre semitrailers.
Manildra plans to use A Double tankers to move ethanol from its Bomaderry ethanol plant to a new Port Kembla facility for export. This is despite the NSW Government recently investing $40 million to upgrade the Kiama Bomaderry rail track for more and heavier freight trains.
If you have concerns about sharing your roads when driving to Port Kembla or down south to Kiama or points south with giant A Doubles, then share these concerns with the NSW Dept of Planning who have invited submissions by Monday 15 August.
Don’t wait to then, jump on:
and ask that NSW Government request Manildra give close consideration to using rail to move their ethanol to Port Kembla.
(image from manildra.com.au/manildra-facilities)
Monday, July 11, 2022
Faster Rail
The July agenda paper for Neighbourhood Forum 5 that operates under the auspices of Wollongong City Council noted in part that on 21 June, the NSW Treasurer delivered the state budget, which includes “a record $112.7 billion investment in infrastructure over the next four years. This includes $76.7 billion for transformative transport infrastructure…”.
The 36 page overview notes inter alia $274.5 million to continue planning of the Fast Rail program to deliver faster connections between Sydney, Canberra, Bomaderry, Newcastle, the Central Coast and the Central West which is NSW and Commonwealth Government-funded.
Most of this limited funding, which is dwarfed by an extra $5 billion to complete the Sydney and South West Metro will go to the Sydney Newcastle line.
A $16 million business case to investigate faster rail options from Sydney to Wollongong (and onto Bomaderry), cofunded by the Australian and NSW government was completed in March 2021.
To quote from the Australian Governments Faster Rail booklet “The current quality of the rail service in the Sydney to Wollongong corridor reflects a range of operational and infrastructure constraints including the Illawarra Escarpment and the single track Coalcliff Tunnel. Uncompetitive rail services add to congestion on roads linking Sydney and Wollongong. …Improved rail services have the potential to improve accessibility to the Sydney employment market from Wollongong, which has above average unemployment, and where a substantial percentage of the population travels to Sydney for work. Currently, approximately 17 per cent of the local population travel to Sydney to work.” The vulnerability of Wollongong to being cut off from most external access makes imperative the requirement for a more secure, more frequent rail service to Sydney.
As noted by Paul Scully MP in commenting on the 2022 NSW Budget, in 2019, the NSW Government commissioned the McNaughton Report on fast rail in NSW. This report remains secret despite his efforts to have it made public. The 2022 NSW budget included an allocation for faster rail along several routes in NSW, including through to Bomaderry, but did not provide any further project details. Mr Scully is seeking further details from the Government about what, if anything, this might mean for travel time and service frequency on the South Coast Line.
At its July 6 meeting, Neighbourhood Forum 5 thanked Mr Scully for this, and asked him to also seek the release of the report completed in March 2021 on improving South Coast travel times, and if we can have off peak trains to Sydney every half hour (like Newcastle has had for years) rather than every hour, prior to the major international cycle event in September 2022 to be held in Wollongong.
The Forum also noted that the Leader of the Opposition Mr Minns in his budget report of 23 June did not raise the issue of improving regional rail, and has written to Mr Ryan Park, requesting a statement from either Mr Minns or the Shadow Minister for Regional Transport (Ms Jenny Aitchison), as to how a NSW ALP government if elected in March 2023 would provide for more and faster South Coast trains.
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Wollongong Council’s Neighbourhood Forum 5 calls for another look at completing Maldon Dombarton
The May agenda papers for this forum notes that the Maldon-Dombarton rail link is a 35 kilometre partly completed freight line. In 2014, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) prepared a business case for its completion, but this received in 2016-17 an adverse Project Business Case evaluation by Infrastructure Australia.
The heavy rains in March and April 2022 have led to impacts on the South Coast line, around Otford requiring the extended cancellation of some passenger trains and replacement by buses between Waterfall and Thirroul. The line was recently closed to allow essential maintenance.
The Moss Vale Unanderra line which is now part of the Interstate Network managed by Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) was closed for routine maintenance for two days in January 2022 is understood to now require further maintenance to deal with the recent heavy rains. In normal times freight trains that use the Moss Vale Unanderra line could be diverted to the South Coast line. However, with problems on the South Coast line, this is not so easy.
The recent rains highlight the capacity and other constraints on the South Coast and Moss Vale Unanderra lines, and demonstrate the desirability of completing the Maldon Dombarton link.
At is May 2022 on line meeting, the Forum resolved to request the Paul Scully MP and Ryan Park MP to seek from the NSW Government an undertaking that the 2014 Business case for completion of the Maldon Dombarton rail link will be updated as a matter of urgency, and that the updated business case is to address the value of the new link when the South Coast line and or the Moss Vale Unanderra line is closed due to weather or other events.
The Forum is awaiting advice from TfNSW via our local members.
https://wollongong.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/161704/NF5-Minutes-4-May-2022.pdf
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
State MP calls for better trains
On 23 May 2018, the NSW State member for Wollongong Paul Scully spoke in
Parliament on the need for a better train service, and the need to
complete the Maldon Dombarton link.
The link to this speech is - https://www.parliament.nsw.
The speech notes that it is 30 years since the then Greiner government stopped work on the Maldon Dombarton link.
This was when the contract to build the 4 km Avon tunnel was cancelled. The contract price was just over $20 million, and some $10 million was paid for preliminary work and compensation for not finishing the job.
A very expensive mistake, as it will now cost over $100 million to build this tunnel.
The link to this speech is - https://www.parliament.nsw.
The speech notes that it is 30 years since the then Greiner government stopped work on the Maldon Dombarton link.
This was when the contract to build the 4 km Avon tunnel was cancelled. The contract price was just over $20 million, and some $10 million was paid for preliminary work and compensation for not finishing the job.
A very expensive mistake, as it will now cost over $100 million to build this tunnel.
Wollongong commuters demand better
On Monday 28 May, over 100 people came out wanting more trains and faster trains between Wollongong and Sydney. It was well reported the next morning by ABC
Radio Illawarra who interviewed many people at the meeting who spoke of
the need for a better train service, and covered by the Illawarra
Mercury
https://www.illawarramercury.
The notorious 3.24 pm weekday Central to Kiama four car train came in for special attention, where some days, over 100 people are standing or sitting on seats..
https://www.illawarramercury.
The notorious 3.24 pm weekday Central to Kiama four car train came in for special attention, where some days, over 100 people are standing or sitting on seats..
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