[Greens-Media] Blue Mountains freight transport going off the rails

[Lee Rhiannon]

MEDIA RELEASE
25 May 2010

BLUE MOUNTAINS FREIGHT TRANSPORT GOING OFF THE RAILS

NSW Greens MP and lead federal Senate candidate Lee Rhiannon today
condemned the decision of Patrick’s Port Logistics to cease
transporting rail by freight between Dubbo and Port Botany from the
beginning of July.

On Thursday morning May 27, Ms Rhiannon will be speaking at a rally
organised by Blackheath Transport Action Group outside the Ivanhoe
Hotel in Blackheath.

“NSW needs more freight going onto rail, not less,” Ms Rhiannon said

“This decision by Patrick’s to cease transporting freight by rail will
lead to thousands more trucks on the road in the Blue Mountains every
week.

“The Great Western Highway passes through a variety of school zones in
different Blue Mountains villages, with a mixture of pedestrian, local
and tourist traffic – a completely inappropriate environment for road
freight.

“Trucks are the most energy intensive way of moving freight, and in
this era of climate change the government should be expanding freight
rail operations.

"Along with compromising air quality and increasing greenhouse gas
emissions, transporting more freight by road will threaten the
immediate safety of communities in the Blue Mountains,

"A report by the NSW Auditor-General in May last year revealed that
crashes and injuries involving heavy vehicles are rising, and that
only one in seven heavy vehicles being identified as a safety risk are
being checked.

"The government must stop subsidising and encouraging road freight or
risk a big increase in accidents and deaths from trucks as their
numbers rise.

“In NSW registration fees for B-Doubles are heavily subsidised. In
2008, a scheme subsidising fuel transported across the Blue Mountains
by rail was cut.

“It is estimated that road freight in NSW is going to double by 2020.
The NSW government needs to start investing in getting more of this
freight back on the rails,” Ms Rhiannon said.


For more information: 0427 861 568


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Lee Rhiannon
Greens NSW MP
0427 861 568