Save Our Rail NSW Inc.

JUST how much of an interchange will the city’s promised new Wickham interchange be? The Newcastle Herald reports. That’s the question raised by a draft report to the government that has surfaced, which recommends ditching plans to run buses from the completed interchange to Newcastle’s east while the light rail is being built. [SOR: light ...

Maitland rail users are expected to have a loud voice at a Newcastle rally on Sunday designed to stop the Wickham truncation, reports the Maitland Mercury. Rally for the Rail will start at Pacific Park on the Newcastle Foreshore and follow a police escort to Civic Park, where ­participants will hear from guest speakers. “Maitland ...

NEWCASTLE City Council has formally changed its stance on the planned CBD rail project and will send an ‘‘urgent letter’’ to premier Mike Baird to let him know, reports the Newcastle Herald. … The council’s formal position now supports retention of the heavy rail line between Wickham and Newcastle. The move, formally posed by the ...

THE removal of the city’s heavy rail will spell big changes for rail workers as well as passengers, prompting criticism from their union about a lack of consultation as the government pushes ahead with its plans, reports the Newcastle Herald. It comes as opponents of the rail’s truncation met on Monday to devise protest tactics. ...

NEWCASTLE’S Labor councillors are leading a renewed push to have the council formally oppose state government moves to truncate the city’s rail line on Boxing Day, reports the Newcastle Herald. … The eleventh-hour move in part relies on a separate move from Greens councillors Therese Doyle and Michael Osborne, who will first seek to rescind ...

THE state’s transport minister says ‘‘at this stage’’ the government does not believe an Act of Parliament is needed to authorise its plans for Newcastle’s rail corridor, although critics argue one would be needed before any development of the land could occur, reports the Newcastle Herald. … ‘‘The final plans for the corridor have not ...

PREMIER Mike Baird has confirmed land on the Newcastle rail corridor will be up for grabs for development once the heavy rail line is truncated, as reported in the Newcastle Herald. … But the type of development that would be permissible once the heavy rail is gone remains up in the air, ahead of state-owned ...

HUNTER Development Corporation general manager Bob Hawes has never directly declared a conflict of interest about his Newcastle property holdings at an HDC board meeting, contrary to HDC evidence at the parliamentary inquiry into Newcastle planning issues, reports Joanne McCarthy in the Newcastle Herald. On November 7, HDC chairman Paul Broad answered ‘‘Absolutely’’, when asked ...

Melinda McMullin has an opinion piece in the Newcastle Herald. I LEFT Newcastle 16 years ago and this year returned to a city which was barely recognisable, not only in terms of its transforming cityscape but its political landscape as well. … In a short span of time two Liberal members of Parliament would stand ...

A great letter by Andrew Amos of Vacy was published by the Newcastle Herald. HUNTER residents could be excused for being a little sceptical about whether light rail will ever be delivered. Since the December 2012 rail truncation announcement, the publicity about Wickham interchange has described it as an ‘‘integrated transport solution’’, ‘‘state-of-the-art’’, ‘‘a multi-modal ...

Premier Mike Baird and Minister for Hunter Gladys Berejiklian won’t visit Maitland this week but in a backflip will meet with Save Our Rail on Thursday, reports the Maitland Mercury. Save Our Rail had been excluded from a roundtable discussion in Newcastle with other stakeholders and community groups until the Mercury questioned the apparent snub. ...

Save Our Rail is determined to see Baird change his tune. The Newcastle Herald reports that NSW Premier Mike Baird says nothing will derail the December 26 Newcastle rail line removal, despite embarrassing admissions by a government official at a parliamentary inquiry and further revelations about a key player’s Newcastle property interests. … Mr Baird, ...

THE state government has spent more than $4 million on reports and advice for its Newcastle transport plans but is yet to release the documents underpinning its decisions or give an estimated cost, a month before it starts removing the heavy rail, reports the Newcastle Herald. … But none of the documents have been released ...

The Newcastle Herald’s editorial column is calling on the NSW government to release all of its railway papers, without delay. [SOR does not agree with the editorial’s focus on re-examination of Woodville Junction but welcomes the paper’s demand of all rail papers to be made public.] The parliamentary committee chaired by Fred Nile MLC  … ...

The Greens are claiming a win in the fight to save Newcastle’s rail line, with the Senate passing a motion to call on the state government to reverse its decision, reports ABC News Newcastle. The rail is due to be truncated on Boxing Day, with Premier Mike Baird telling a planning inquiry that any delays ...

State-owned development agency UrbanGrowth has admitted it is looking into a ‘‘number of uses’’ for the city’s rail corridor land and ways of ‘‘activating’’ the area around the existing Newcastle railway station through redevelopment, as reported in the Newcastle Herald. ‘‘We will be undertaking some work to understand what those opportunities may be and actually ...