500 signatures reached
To: Federal Government
'Queensland Rail to Casino'
Request and facilitate the state governments of NSW & Queensland to cooperate on integrating the NSW 'North Coast' line into the Brisbane / Gold Coast line.
An electric line running on Qld gauge, from Brisbane to Casino will save large amounts of fossil fuel, & will transform access for the Northern Rivers. It will also facilitate access from the southern states to the Gold Coast. The line would have Brisbane City, Brisbane International and Domestic Terminals, Gold Coast, Coolangatta International Airport, Murwillumbah, Mullum, Byron Bay, Lismore and Casino.
Currently, the very end of the North Coast Line is Condong Sugar Mill - which has a mothballed cogeneration plant, which could provide sustainably generated electricity to power the line.
This campaign is very important, as otherwise pollies may soon start irretrievably selling off assets and land, which might make a future sustainable transport system unachievable.
Why is this important?
Unless you are a 'deniersaur', the planet is dying. And if you are, it still is.
We urgently need to;
• Transfer from fossil fuelled private vehicles to public transport, which has greatly reduced energy needs per passenger mile.
• Power this public transport by renewable sources.
• 'QR to Casino' is one of the easiest ways to achieve this. Reinvigorating an all but abandoned line (Northern Rivers Line) will transform transportation between Casino and Brisbane, greatly enhancing the 'value' of the region.
• Northern Rivers has long been beholden to special interest groups who do not want shoppers to have easy access to Brisbane, or who think that the North Coast does not need Public Transport, as other lines connect to Brisbane - from the 'Sydney' & 'NSW Government' point of view.
• It is time Northern Rivers residents had a say.
• A road tunnel is currently being built on the Pacific Highway west of Byron Bay - cost ~ approximately 1 billion dollars - this is about the SAME COST as re gauging & electrifying NR line, & connecting it to GC Line / Brisbane.
• Ask NR residents would they prefer to have the Byron tunnel, or a direct electric train to the Gold Coast & Brisbane?
• Reopening the NR line as a serious rail line - no longer 'once a day to the big smoke', but 'integrating the region, on the hour'* will considerably reduce road traffic, making roads safer and making existing roads capable of handling all regular traffic. NR residents can then commute to Brisbane - 'Relaxing by Rail'!
• The land use and residential pattern of the NR area has evolved around the North Coast rail line. Development of the Pacific Highway then caused the line to be closed, due to competition. Now that the highway follows the coast (eg Yelgun to Chinderah bypass), those towns and villages on the NR line route are poorly serviced. Reopening the NR line on that route will correct this situation.
• 'Synergy' means that each new station added to a rail line or network, benefits all of the other stations. That, e.g., Burringbar would be (ultimately) connected to Bendigo, benefits both stations. Short lines eg GC line, or worse, short lines with limited service (once per day of the old NR line) are of significantly reduced usefulness.
• Integrating these lines to become 'QR to Casino', & powered by sugar cane bagasse, overcomes these difficulties.
* Approx 40 trains per day run from Brisbane to the Gold Coast. Initially, about 1 train per hour should be enough for the NR section -
How it will be delivered
Stage a press conference, & deliver by email.