30 Jan 2012: Queensland: Find savings through audit of Queensland Rail's ...

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Media release 30 January 2012

Queensland: Find savings through audit of Queensland Rail's  'land bank'

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org), a web-based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers, wants to find savings for new rail projects in the sale of disused railway land across the state.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track, said:

"RAIL Back on Track calls on all political parties contesting the upcoming state election to commit to conducting an audit of all disused former railway land that lies vacant and underutilised across Queensland.  Lots not required for future track expansion should be sold off and the money re-invested in vital new infrastructure, our members believe.

"Over the years as lines have closed and track has been ripped up, the Queensland Government has become an unwitting hoarder of hundreds and hundreds hectares of vacant land – some of it in prime locations – that lies idle and could be put to better use if sold off.  The first step is an audit of what land is available and an appraisal of the likely revenue to be generated.

"RAIL Back On Track would like the money raised from disused railway land sell-offs to be reinvested in a series of small-scale track improvements, such as additional crossing points where trains can pass each other, or change tracks, and in new signalling that will improve passenger rail efficiency.  We see it operating in much the same way as the Black Spot Program for fixing crash-prone sections of the road network.  It involves no new taxes and makes Queenslanders' assets work harder.

"Clearly, we need to make sure that we don't sell abandoned rail corridors that could be reactivated in future.  There is a lesson to be learned from the sale of the old Gold Coast Line, for instance.  The old line between Caboolture and Wamuran is one we think should be retained.

"However, our members have identified several sites where former railway land sits idle and could be sold off, at Yeppoon, Gympie, Warwick, Goomeri, and Toogoolawah.  Obviously there are more locations.  This would need to be verified by an audit, which we see as the first step.

"Because they occupied prime spots in towns, former railway station sites are valuable and their sale to private developers could result in significant revitalisation for key rural centres.  Holding onto this fallow ground through and in the middle of former railway towns creates an unnecessary divide where an overgrown wasteland splits the commercial centre, or restricts traffic movements around a ghost railway.  Traffic is forced onto rickety timber bridges, which must be maintained, over a track that is no longer there.  This just doesn't make sense and amounts to a potential mismanagement of state assets.

"With the real estate cycle about to pick up and the 'tree change' phenomenon set to grow as more baby boomers retire to rural retreats, RAIL Back On Track believes now is the time for an audit of the railway 'land bank' so we can assess the potential for wringing the most of what we own.

"Just think of it as a state garage sale of what's no longer needed."

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org