Greenbushes to Bunbury rail line decision simply reflects the economic reality

South West Member of the Upper House Dr Steve Thomas said today that nobody should be surprised by the announcement that the result of the feasibility study on reopening the Greenbushes to Bunbury rail line was that it is not feasible and not economically viable.

“This study has been going on for years, and it has finally told us what we already knew about the viability of reopening the line” Dr Thomas said.

“When the then Labor Government shut the line completely in 2005 it destroyed the line’s capacity to ever be reopened, and the twenty years since then has simply meant that the line is two decades more deteriorated and two decades less viable.

“And when then transport Minister Alannah MacTiernan announced before the 2008 state election that she had struck a deal with woodchip companies to reopen the line she inflicted yet another lie on the local community.

“There was no deal struck in 2008 because the woodchip companies who were the line’s only possible users agreed in principle only to use the line again if the Government paid the additional costs, and the Government refused to do so.

“That 2008 deal was a fraud which has led to the final last rites on the line 17 years later.

“I now call on the Government to invest in further upgrades to the South Western Highway to ensure ongoing road safety for the community of the region and our many visitors.

“The Government has saved up to a billion dollars in not reopening the Greenbushes to Bunbury rail line, so it can easily afford to invest a hundred million dollars in additional overtaking lanes to improve safety and convenience for drivers in the South West.

“After messing the community around for the last twenty years, it’s the least the Government could do.