Outdated Rail Line Between Lake Cargelligo and Ungarie hoping to benefit from $400 Million Dollar Fixing Country Rail Program  

The NSW Government have announced a $400 million program to provide targeted infrastructure funding from Restart NSW for regional freight projects and grain growers in the Lachlan Shire are keen to see a share of that investment.  

The Fixing Country Rail program aims to improve capacity, access, efficiency and reliability of regional freight transport by upgrading parts of the regional rail network.  

A section of rail between Lake Cargelligo and Ungarie has been identified as needing upgrades so it can handle mainline locomotives and grain cars, for transporting local grain to port for export.  

Local Tullibigeal farmer, Murray Henderson, is working hard to put the issue on the agenda of politicians. 

"We've created a local Railway Action Committee Group to try to attract the attention of politicians who can bring some of that funding our way," he said.  

"If this section of rail is not upgraded soon, the next logical thing will be to shut it because the big locomotives can't use it. Growers are afraid that if the rail line shuts, they will have a very costly and difficult time delivering their produce." 

The section of rail that Mr Henderson refers to is 100 years old, and needs new rails to be able to accommodate the mainline locomotives that deliver to the ports. Without a rail line, growers are forced to transport their grain by road.  

Member for Barwon, Roy Butler visited the site on Monday 2 May, and acknowledged that the section was in dire need of upgrading. 

"The current situation adds additional freight costs, because the grain needs to be carried on trucks via a local road, which is less efficient and more costly than rail and is also causing the road to deteriorate," Mr Butler said.  

Currently, there is 80,000 tonne stored between Lake Cargelligo and Tullibigeal that will need to be transported by road, and that number will only increase if the rail is not upgraded prior to this year's harvest.  

Mr Henderson said that grain receival sites along this rail line have limited grades that they can receive due to the lack of transport. 

"If the rail was to be upgraded however, we would see more sites potentially open and a greater variety and capacity available at existing sites," he said. 

"It would also attract a larger number of competitors to the market at our local sites for our grain." 

However, it's not just farmers that are concerned. 

"Rate payers have also been complaining that they should not have to be funding road repairs – especially when our roads were never designed to handle the number of road trains that they've been carrying," added Mr Henderson. 

Since his visit, Mr Butler has written to the NSW Regional Transport and Roads Minister raising the issue and is awaiting his response. 

Concerned locals do not know when the funding, if any, will come.