INVERELL Shire Council will join with three other local councils to look into the possibility of having the railway line reopened from Moree to Delungra.

The councils and transport authorities will now look into the costs, benefits and disadvantages of the idea.

If the line did reopen, it could mean produce and passengers would be off the roads, making them safer.

Inverell, Moree, Yallaroi and Narrabri council representatives met on September 26 with the general manager of the Australian Transport and Energy Corridor Ltd.

The company started plans to upgrade the rail line between Melbourne and Gladstone about six years ago.

Inverell council general manager Paul Henry said the line bypassed the Inverell area, but a secondary line could be established.

The Moree to Inverell line shut down in 1986, and Mr Henry said the Moree to Delungra section could be put back in action if all went well.

The remaining Delungra to Inverell section was in too poor a condition to make it viable for reopening.

Mr Henry said one benefit of having the railway open again was that produce could be carried by rail instead of road.

This meant there would be less damage to, and danger on, the roads.

"A main problem council has had is damage to road surfaces…at the end of each (crop) season the roads are severely damaged.”

Mr Henry said council had to spend up to $140,000 some years to repair the damage.

"There have been years where it has been considerable, and that's just for heavy patching and rehabilitation,” he said.

Other produce such as beef could also be transported via the railway line, and Mr Henry said passenger trains would also be considered, although the plans were still in their very early stages.

© 2002 Inverell Times

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