This article featured on page three of this week’s Cobram Courier.
Rail decision angers
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Parties supporting the restoration of the Shepparton-Cobram railway line have been angered after Cobram missed out on large Labor transport grants.
The $354.6 million in transport funding for Victoria included $135.3 million earmarked to bring 20 new VLoctiy trains online, but none will come to Moira Shire.
Cobram residents Cyril and Nick White said they were outraged with the “blatant dismissal” of the area on the Brumby Government’s part.
The local father and son want to know why other areas are being upgraded while the Cobram line remains quiet.
The Shepparton-Cobram line has had a rough history, being brought back to service by Ken Jasper once before only to be de-commissioned again in 1993.
The Whites have campaigned over the past 24 months to have commercial activity restored to the line to little success so far.
Cyril said that despite their best efforts, they had not been given adequate attention by the Minister for Public Transport, Martin Pakula.
“We’ve got the information to back up our claims, the hard part is trying to get the government to pay us attention when we’re in a very safe seat,” he said.
“We’ve got far-reaching letters of support from throughout Cobram and Numurkah and I’ve spoken to a number of councillors who are all for it.”
Nationals candidate for Murray Valley Tim McCurdy said the issue could not be ignored any longer.
“We’ll definitely be looking to reinstate the line in the future,” Mr McCurdy said.
“So far the government has been able to get away with it by offering buses.
Labor candidate for Murray Valley Lachlan Enshaw could not be reached for comment.
*End of newspaper article*
Victorians go to the polls today to decide who will form government in Victoria for the next four years. Nationals candidate Tim McCurdy has made it a key policy of his to restore passenger train services to Cobram, evident by a local advertisement in this week’s Cobram Courier.
