When you get to the nitty-gritty of the announcement, it\u2019s spending $10 million to begin<\/strong><\/em> the process of examining rail infrastructure along the South Coast Line and develop options for upgrading sections of the line between Sydney and Wollongong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Begin \u2013 again? Before you get your knickers in a knot, I\u2019m not having a shot at the Labor boys and girls, the Libs had their chance too and all we got were pretty words and photo opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, a quick Google search found the NSW Liberal Coalition government\u2019s 2014 Rail Corridors Strategy for the Sydney-Wollongong rail line. Released under a Freedom of Information request and redacted in part \u2013 ironically mostly in reference to the cost \u2013 the strategy aimed to deliver reduced travel times to Sydney in under 70 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The kicker \u2013 and probably the reason it\u2019s still sitting on a shelf somewhere gathering dust \u2013 \u201ctotal investment required to deliver new alignments is expected to be of the order of $3.565 billion. This does not include capacity enabling projects which are needed as a result of rapid transit changes to the Illawarra corridor\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2017, the Illawarra Business Chamber commissioned Wollongong University\u2019s SMART Infrastructure Facility to investigate options to improve the speed and reliability of passenger and freight rail transport services between the Illawarra and Sydney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The South Coast rail line runs through beautiful countryside, such as here at Stanwell Park, but the unstable geology and topography of the Illawarra escarpment creates ongoing issues. Photo: Chilby Photography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It found that reducing passenger commute times on the line was severely challenged by the geological conditions of the Illawarra escarpment and the consequent engineering challenges. In short, it said an investment \u201cin the order of $2 billion\u201d would be required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn\u2019t matter who\u2019s been in government, it doesn\u2019t matter how many media campaigns are run, or how many expensive reports are prepared which all have the same conclusion (it\u2019s broke and needs fixing) \u2013 we\u2019re still waiting \u2026 and waiting \u2026 and waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the wake of the Waterfall train disaster in 2003, in which seven people died when the train derailed after an emergency brake failed to activate, commuters\u2019 demands for improvements to the line again made the headlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A report at the time quoted Dr Phillip Laird, probably the most vocal and knowledgeable critic of the Illawarra\u2019s rail system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The University of Wollongong professor was blunt in his assessment of the rail line back then: \u201cWe\u2019ve got major problems. We\u2019ve gone backwards. If you look at what the planners were saying 10 years ago, we\u2019ve not come up to scratch. Many of the major projects that should have been done in the 90s need addressing this decade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sound familiar?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over many decades our long-suffering rail commuters have been promised much by politicians of all persuasions, yet received very little in the way of improvements. They still leave home in the dark and get home in the dark. They\u2019re still left inconvenienced when it rains and their train home is delayed or cancelled. And their travel time to Sydney is still about 90 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We don\u2019t need more reports to tell us the line sits on unstable land due to the geology and topography of the Illawarra escarpment. Or that when it rains that unstable land tends to become more unstable and is prone to landslips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We don\u2019t need more reports to tell us freight services share the line in places with passenger services, and demand is increasing for freight from Port Kembla and Sydney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We do know, and it was refreshing to hear Transport Minister Jo Haylen say it, that any option to upgrade the line will be \u201cexpensive, difficult and lengthy\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, it will be even more expensive if we continue to twiddle our thumbs and navel-gaze as we begin<\/em><\/strong> to think about our options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it\u2019s not even worth trying to calculate the cost to the Illawarra and the state if the rail line collapses in the next east coast low and is out of action for months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s gone way beyond the time to\u00a0begin<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0to look at options; it\u2019s well and truly time to bite the bullet and spend the money to begin the physical work to fix the line \u2013 before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Region Illawarra<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of my first journalistic assignments when I started working in the Illawarra was pretty straightforward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":67884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,2695],"tags":[5026,10477,10591],"class_list":["post-67882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rail-news","category-sydney-trains","tag-nsw","tag-south-coast-nsw","tag-south-coast-rail-line"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/image-131.jpeg\")
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