The Tasmanian Greens today said that following the second train derailment in a week, Infrastructure Minister David O’ Byrne MP must confirm that the application for the next tranche of funding for TasRail is ready to be submitted to Infrastructure Australia.
Greens Infrastructure spokesperson Tim Morris MP said that the deadline for submissions for the current round of funding is approaching and Tasmania cannot afford to once again squander this opportunity to continue to improve the state’s rail infrastructure.
“There are lingering concerns after a previous Minister had apparently failed to make a timely application for funding, causing huge embarrassment and possibly missing out on funding as a result,” Mr Morris said.
“The state rail infrastructure is desperately in need of further upgrading work, the existing Infrastructure Australia funding runs out within two years and the new funding needs to be in place well before that expires.”
“Since TasRail took ownership, the number of derailments has been significantly lower than previously, but these two recent events remind us that their work in restoring the network to a safe operating standard has only just begun.”
“The Minister must guarantee that the State’s submission to the Infrastructure Australia process will meet the necessary standards and requirements, and will be submitted on time.”
“We cannot afford for this to be a missed opportunity to improve productivity and safety, and to take pressure off the state’s roads by shifting more freight by rail.”
