GREENS WELCOME TOLL COMMITMENT TO RAIL
Tasmanian Greens Infrastructure spokesperson Tim Morris MP today welcomed the commitment from Toll Tasmania to move its operations to the new Brighton Transport Hub and to ongoing use of the rail network.
“The hub is a forward-looking development which will keep freight off the Midland and Bass Highways and on the more efficient rail network,” Mr Morris said.
“This will help to improve the efficiency of the freight logistics chain in southern Tasmania, which is still a major barrier to business productivity.”
“Removing some of the heavy vehicle traffic from the Hobart CBD is a good step, but the Minister still needs to address concerns about an increase in truck traffic along the northern end of the Brooker Highway.”
“While there will be obvious advantages for Tasrail in only running trains from the Brighton Hub, it could be counter-productive if it leads to a significant increase in road traffic between Derwent Park and Bridgewater.”
“The Minister also has a responsibility to begin thinking about the future of the Brighton-to-Hobart rail link, which will become disused once TasRail has relocated to Brighton.”
“There are a range of future options for the line, including opening it up to heritage rail tourism, but none of these options will be available if the line is left to fall into disrepair.”
