FEDERAL candidates for the Mallee have voiced support for the return of
passenger rail services between Mildura and Swan Hill and in the wider
region.
It has been close to three years since the Department of Transport
undertook a feasibility study on a new rail network in Mildura, and eight years
since an announcement was made that passenger services were to be re-introduced
to Mildura under the Linking Victoria program.
The Mildura line has been
closed to passenger services since September 1993.
Australian Labour’s Party
federal candidate for the Mallee Lydia Senior was the latest to voice her
support for improved rail services in the electorate earlier this week.
Improvements to the electorate’s rail system have also been earmarked as a
topic of interest by other minority party candidates including Palmer United’s
Mark Cory and Rise Up Australia candidate Tim Middleton.
Speaking to The
Guardian earlier this month, Mr Cory indicated that he wanted answers on why a
Mildura-based passenger rail network had not yet gone ahead.
“All levels of
government have been promising a train and nothing’s changed, why is that?” he
asked.
The 2010 Mildura Rail Feasibility Study received 625 submissions from
individuals and groups, the majority of which were in support of a new rail
service.
For more of this story, see Wednesday’s Guardian (June 26).
