AN UPPER House Victorian MP wants the return of passenger trains to the Mildura line to be part of any infrastructure-led coronavirus recovery plans.
Member for Northern Victoria Tania Maxwell told State Parliament this week it was “unacceptable” Mildura residents had been without a train service for more than a quarter of a century.
“Given their geographic isolation and limited current public transport options, I would argue that its people actually should be about the last to be precluded from access to full passenger rail services,” the Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party MP said.
“At the very least, as a first step, they need access to a shuttle service between Mildura and perhaps either Maryborough or Ballarat.
“I might add that the restoration of these services would also fit in very neatly with the government’s agenda of trying to initiate a construction and infrastructure-led recovery from the coronavirus.”
Ms Maxwell said passenger trains would complement the possible resumption of the Murray Basin Rail Project by taking trucks and coaches off the road.
The Murray Basin project ran out of funds 12 months ago before many of its intended benefits could be realised.
Freight from north-west Victoria was taking up to five hours longer to get to port compared with the previous route, according to a Victorian Auditor-General’s Office report.
A business case for the resumption of the project was reportedly with the Federal Government.
Sunraysia Daily last month reported the Victorian Government’s $70 billion transport infrastructure program called Victoria’s Big Build did not include any project within 300km of Mildura.
Mildura is the largest city in mainland Australia not to have a passenger train to its capital city, or with access to such a service nearby.
Ms Maxwell said costs of returning passenger services would be offset by “substantial” social and economic spin-offs in the Mallee, mentioning reduced impacts of isolation, stimulating jobs and population growth, tourism benefits, and improved access to medical appointments.
“There surely cannot be too credible or consistent a cost argument against it … given the government has long been spending huge sums of money with alacrity on infrastructure projects elsewhere throughout the state.”
Infrastructure Victoria did not recommend returning passenger services to Mildura in its 30-year strategy, published in 2016, blaming “high cost … compared to the forecast demand”.
