Northern Rivers Rail Ltd (NRRL) has received information that the railway tracks are now being ripped out at Casino.

Federal Nationals MP for Page, Kevin Hogan committed $7.5 million to destroy the 13km rail line from Casino to Bentley and replacing it with a bike trail.

Railway experts say this is the best piece of track in the whole railway line.

If it was the same to repair as the section for the Byron Solar train this would cost $6.5 million to repair the railway track to Bentley, less than the cost of the bike trail.

Lismore City Council has recently accepted the funding offer of $9.9 million for a bike trail for the 16.3 km section from Bentley to Lismore, made by Kevin Hogan.

At the same costings it would be $8.15 million to repair the tracks. Why waste money on ripping up valuable infrastructure?

Jan Mangleson, Chairperson of NRRL says, “After the recent disastrous floods, having the roads blocked meant empty shelves in supermarkets and people unable to buy essential food or petrol.

Especially when they’d lost everything it was important to have food and be able to get around.

The Casino to Murwillumbah railway was built to be flood free and could have been an effective transport link for these essential supplies.

We’re being let down by out-of-date government thinking and the total loss of public transport is an added disaster for everyone”.

Beth Shelley from NRRL says, “We need to question in this time before the Federal election why the Nationals are wanting to rip up railway tracks. We know they don’t favour action on climate change.

Railways have been proven to be the best way to cut transport emissions quickly. Yet here we are seeing the destruction of a railway in a busy, populated area like the Northern Rivers. Traffic congestion, road damage and accidents will continue to worsen.

It’s sad to lose our transport because of a deliberately negative government report.”  

It seems that local council in Casino are getting in early to destroy the line before the Federal election and possible government change.

A different government could possibly withdraw the funding for the destruction of this great railway line if they cared more for our communities and action on climate change.”

Construction of a bike trail at Murwillumbah has been happening for the last few months and after the floods we’ve seen what a mess is left when water washes away a bike trail.

This would not be happening if the rails were still there to hold the earth in place.

This bike trail is going to end up costing heaps for ratepayers when the government should be providing decent public transport for locals and the many tourists that come to the Northern Rivers.

People come to the Byron Shire in huge numbers but have no transport to get around to the rest of the region.

Finding transport to get to a bike trail in Casino won’t be possible for many of the tourists to Byron. Trains to Byron would offer the chance for them to get out to Lismore, Casino and Murwillumbah to visit these areas.

Beth Shelley says, "Kevin Hogan doesn't show any real care for this community when he offers money to rip up the railway. People need to vote for someone who cares about our needs and we need our railway."

For more information please call, Jan Mangelson on 0431 477 445 or Beth Shelley on 0423 030 346.