NSW Labor will seek support from the minor parties in the upper house ahead of a crucial vote on the future of Newcastle’s heavy rail line, reports the Maitland Mercury. In Parliament yesterday, the state ­government tabled changes to the Transport Administration Act, which has stopped it from tearing up the train line into Newcastle ...

A BILL to authorise the closure of Newcastle’s rail line could pass NSW Parliament next week, with Shooters and Fishers Party MPs prepared to deliver the government crucial votes to get the legislation through the upper house, reports the Newcastle Herald. Robert Brown and Robert Borsak have denied any deal has been struck with the ...

The NSW Government introduced a bill to Parliament on Wednesday which would enable it to not only CLOSE the Newcastle Rail line, but to RIP IT UP and sell off the land. It is specific to Newcastle Rail line but could set a precedent for other rail lines or public spaces in NSW. As we ...

THE state government will seek Parliament’s approval to officially close the Newcastle rail line at Wickham and finally make a significant start on its $460 million city transport overhaul, reports the Newcastle Herald. More than eight months after it shut down the trains, Transport Minister Andrew Constance will give notice on Wednesday of a bill ...

TRANSPORT minister Andrew Constance has denied the government tried to avoid putting the proposed closure of Newcastle’s heavy rail line to Parliament by devising elaborate plans to transfer its ownership from one agency to another for $10, reports the Newcastle Herald. During a budget estimates hearing on Tuesday, Mr Constance also failed to provide a ...

We believe the Government will introduce legislation to change the Transport Administration Act which prevents the removal of rail lines if they lose the Supreme Court Appeal. Therefore we are gathering signatures on a petition to the members of the Legislative Assembly to prevent changes that could have ramifications throughout NSW and threaten not only ...

Ian Kirkwood writes in the Newcastle Herald that Paul Broad said on Friday and again on Tuesday that he did not believe that light rail was the best option for Newcastle. His proposal, which could be described as a ‘‘wait and see’’ approach, involves building a big and comprehensive interchange at Wickham – using The ...

PAUL Broad has resigned as chairman of the Hunter Development Corporation after more than seven years, citing a ‘‘massive shift in power from Newcastle to Macquarie Street’’ and shortcomings with aspects of the government’s city revitalisation plans, as reported in the Newcastle Herald. … ‘‘We are able to run our own race up here but ...

A quick message to supporters that due to unforeseen circumstances the meeting scheduled for next Wednesday 19th August has been postponed for 1 week. MEETING DATE WED 26TH AUGUST 2015 VENUE: NEWCASTLE LEAGUES CLUB DOWNSTAIRS TIME: 5.30 P.M. HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE :  BRING A FRIEND : KEEP ON TRACK Regards, Joan.

SOR took the NSW Government to the Supreme Court of NSW to stop it from closing the Newcastle Rail Line on Boxing Day 2014, selling the rails for scrap metal and building on the land. The judge ruled it illegal for the Government or its agencies to “rip up the rail line,” which would contravene ...

Ian Kirkwood’s article in the Newcastle Herald covers the potential impact on Newcastle bus services: THE state government’s UrbanGrowth agency says its four potential visions for Newcastle ‘‘reimagine the city centre as an enhanced destination, supported by new employment, educational and housing opportunities and public domain, that will attract people’’. I’m not sure who else ...

NEWCASTLE’S rail line has not technically been closed just because trains no longer service all its stations, the state government has told the Court of Appeal as part of renewed efforts to remove the city’s rail tracks, as reported in the Newcastle Herald. A hearing began on Wednesday to consider whether the government has the ...

The long-awaited appeal of the Supreme Court’s ruling last year that the government lacks the authority to remove the heavy rail between Wickham and Newcastle is listed for hearing in Sydney on Wednesday, reports the Newcastle Herald. The state government and community group Save Our Rail have each filed appeals to different aspects of Justice ...

HUNTER Street business owners have banded together to protest against the proposed light rail route they say would leave the already struggling precinct in ‘‘‘dire straits’’, reports the Newcastle Herald. Passmores College chief executive Duncan Macfarlane said pedestrian traffic had drastically dropped since the truncation of the heavy rail at Hamilton. Mr Macfarlane said the ...

Meeting change: Because of the Court case on Wed 15TH July the scheduled meeting of SOR Lower Hunter has been postponed for 1 week, until 22nd July at 5.30 p.m. Supporters to gather outside Supreme Court: The Supreme Court Hearing of the Appeal will be held on 15th and 16th July and our legal team ...

It’s being labelled “provocative” – ground testing, which has begun along Newcastle’s rail corridor between the city’s west and Newcastle station. Save Our Rail and some residents believe it’s evidence the state has plans for MORE development and they say it should wait until after July’s Supreme Court appeal. Watch the NBN News report online.

Gavin Gatenby of EcoTransit wrote an article at The Fifth Estate about transport madness in Newcastle. Last Christmas Day I rode what might be the last train out of Newcastle station – a handsome heritage terminus alongside the historic core of NSW’s second-biggest city. It was 11:22 on a brutally steamy night, and the occasion had ...

Save Our Rail has previous written about how Newcastle light rail would kill off cycleways along Hunter Street according to the leaked confidential “document 71”. A new article in the Newcastle Herald / Sydney Morning Herald reports that the government would cancel the construction of a bike lane down northern Castlereagh Street until after light rail was built, and also ...

Parliamentary Secretary Scot McDonald says that the government dodged a bullet on the cutting of the rail line and that his door is closed to anyone who does not support the government’s plan for the Newcastle CBD and that he plans to filter out negative people, reports the Maitland Mercury. The Hunter’s new representative in state Parliament says ...

Consider that it would require: Many months of construction Loading zones removal* Car parking spaces removal* Taxi ranks removal* The Newcastle Urban Renewal Strategy provided for the broadening and greening of footpaths and the construction of a cycleway to encourage people to come into the CBD. Hunter St light rail will kill off this plan ...