Cessnock mayor Bob Pynsent has backed a Maitland mayoral candidate’s call for increased train services to cater to the region’s rapidly-growing population.
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Fairfax Media reported last week Maitland mayoral candidate and Labor councillor Loretta Baker’s call for the State to provide more rail transport linking major centres in the region.
Cr Baker said unprecedented residential development at Huntlee, Lochinvar, Aberglasslyn and Farley have set the foundations for a much-needed boost to the area’s public transport sector.
Cr Pynsent said he was “most definitely” supportive of the idea to increase rail services on the Hunter line, which has stations at Greta and Branxton, and would service the new town of Huntlee.
Cessnock City Council’s draft traffic and transport strategy – which was on public exhibition in June – called for an increase in rail service times and frequency on the Hunter line to address residential growth in the Branxton-Greta area.
The issue has been talked about further along the line for many years – a lobby group called Two More Trains For Singleton formed in 2008.
Opal data released last week showed passenger demand on the Hunter line in July was up 18.4 percent compared to the monthly figures from a year earlier, with 80,292 trips recorded.
But the trains run north-west of Telarah just four times a day – twice in the morning and twice in the evening.
The draft strategy asked Cessnock Council to lobby the State Government to reintroduce and increase the frequency of rail services.
It downplayed, but did not rule out, the possibility of re-opening the Cessnock-Maitland rail line to passengers (a service that ceased in 1972).
While Maitland Council’s 2009 Integrated Land Use and Transport Study proposed re-opening the South Maitland Rail line, Cessnock Council’s draft strategy said the cost of using a privately-owned and operated rail line would be a “draw back” – but it did not completely dismiss the idea.
The draft traffic and transport strategy will come back to council for endorsement after public feedback is assessed.
The Advertiser’s Facebook followers were overwhelmingly supportive of the idea of re-establishing the rail line from Cessnock to Maitland when the question was put to them last week.
