Inland rail: Can the freight line truly be 'nation building'?

Updated

The Melbourne-to-Brisbane inland rail line is touted as the Snowy Hydro Scheme for the modern era — a nation-building infrastructure project that will bring huge benefits to the bush.

But the $10 billion venture to build a freight network for the next century won't save the scores of dying, tiny towns along its route.

And there are concerns taxpayer money would be better invested in newer technologies.

The ABC travelled the 1,700-kilometre corridor by train, car and foot to hear the hopes, fears and ideas of those whose lives could be affected the most.

It's liberating, sitting in the cab of a powerful locomotive, watching the Melbourne skyline shrink behind a conga-line of freight wagons, and knowing you're on track — literally — for an adventure.

We've barely left the terminal when the driver puts on the kettle, settling in for the five-hour journey through the Victorian countryside to the Riverina in New South Wales.

The destination, Junee, is a true rail town. Since the late 1800s, the clatter of trains has been a constant and comforting soundscape for generations of families who've made a living working on the railways.

Kev Schultz is a self-proclaimed "gunzel". That means he's basically an extreme train nerd.

Junee born and bred, Kev has been in the driver's seat for 17 years. He's like a king on his throne.

The 42-year-old father of three commands freight trains of up to 2 kilometres long, making him a contender for a gig on this project.

Kev's taking us on a sentimental journey and as he pulls out of Junee station, he lets out a deep throaty blast from his beloved C-class locomotive.

"I call it Aussie hustle muscle because she hustles along pretty well, this old girl," he laughs.

"The job is great when you've got a good mate by your side, you've got the billy boiling for a cuppa and you pour your cuppa and that homely smell of coffee fills the cab.

"Your engine is roaring its guts out, the train feels great, and that's the time when you think, I can't believe I'm getting paid for this."

Kev is keen to see inland rail get off the ground but is sceptical about the time frame.

"Inland rail— it's a great idea, a fantastic idea," Kev enthuses, but "if it happens within 20 years, I think they'll be going pretty well.

"It's got so much potential, but whether it lives up to the potential it's got — I hope it does … because Australia needs it, it really does."

Less than one-third of the inland railway, about 500 kilometres, will be new track, but upgrading the 1,200 kilometres of existing rail corridor will be no easy or cheap task, according to Kev.

Much of the track base has bog holes and erosion from water, and will need to be re-laid if trains are "to run efficiently, productively and economically", and meet their 24-hour journey deadline, he adds.

Whatever the outcome, for now, Kev's happy just being in the driver's seat.

"We're living the dream!" he beams, throwing a smile to his co-driver who's cracking open his Thomas The Tank Engine lunchbox.

Not far from Junee, on the back roads in the Riverina region, is The Rock. Tim Fischer walks along the rail platform of this tiny town, named after the monolith looming in the distance.

This is home territory for the unabashed train enthusiast.

"That'll be the XPT," says the former Nationals' leader and deputy prime minister, as he peers at the approaching headlights and checks the train schedule pulled from his pocket.

He's a long-term advocate for inland rail but contrary to some federal politicians, Tim Fischer doesn't pretend it will save small rural communities.

"It'll extend confidence to regional economies," he says.

But "there will be zero advantage for the small railway-siding towns, even the ones with extended passing loops, other than the construction phase of inland rail and the upgrading to the standards necessary".

He says it must have tracks strong enough, and bridges high enough, for double-stacked containers.

And he's hit back at city folk who don't want it in their backyards. He calls them the "SALS" — the smashed avocado latte set.

"The SALS have demanded and obtained ridiculous curfews on freight trains operating between the Port of Brisbane and Acacia Ridge," the proposed Queensland terminal for inland rail.

"North-south freight on this crowded south-eastern part of Australia is fast growing and can't all go on road, and shipping is not an effective alternative."

He believes the big beneficiaries will be freight forwarders in Melbourne and Brisbane, and the planned regional freight hubs.

"The big pay dirt I think will be for Parkes, as the central anchor of the whole project, and for Toowoomba [west of Brisbane]," he says.

An hour after we meet, right on schedule, Tim Fischer dons his trademark hat and prepares to make tracks.

It's lunchtime and he concedes, with a smile, that he's quite partial to avocado on toast, himself.

From the Riverina and onto the regional centre of Parkes, a likely big winner out of the $10 billion project.

The town is named after Sir Henry Parkes, the Father of Federation, who envisioned an inland railway as far back as 1889.

Ken Keith is the most famous Elvis Presley impersonator in Parkes. He's also the local mayor.

The town is renowned for its annual Elvis festival, but Ken sees its future as the national logistics hub on the inland railway.

"Parkes is uniquely positioned in the Australian freight network because we're at the intersection of the Sydney-Perth, Melbourne-Brisbane railway lines, and the Newell Highway," he says.

Dressed in his favourite sky-blue sequined jumpsuit, the mayor waves as a freight train sounds its horn and rumbles through the level crossing next to his farm.

His enthusiasm for inland rail hides the fact that Ken and his wife Sue will be personally affected.

Their paddocks, which grow grain and raise fine-wool sheep, are set to be dissected by the construction of a massive roundabout to link the east-west and north-south rail corridors.

It will also potentially cut off a major water supply on his property — but he's not too worried.

"I can see the big picture and the importance of the inland rail to rural Australia and the farming community, and so I think everybody's got to take one for the team, so to speak," he says.

People along the rail route whose land will be affected can expect compensation. As a result, Ken abstains from any relevant vote at council.

With local unemployment higher than the national average, and weekly income much lower, the mayor sees the project as a lifeline.

Freight and logistics companies are already spending millions of dollars expanding their local operations here, he says.

"I see Parkes growing gradually over time as people see the advantages of establishing businesses, manufacturing, warehousing out in the regional areas of Australia."

Not far from Parkes, in a sea of golden canola, is Gunningbland.

Farmer Katrina Swift is taking a bird's eye view of her crops and the future of the freight industry.

She's concerned that today's technology may be rapidly overtaken and options other than inland rail have not been properly considered.

"We've potentially got autonomous trucks in the foreseeable future. Can they do that leg [Melbourne to Brisbane] in a faster time at a lower cost than rail?" she asks.

"If that's the case, are we looking at upgrading a road network to facilitate that? … Rather than taking in a high-speed rail option that only benefits rail versus benefitting the whole community with trucks and cars?"

The agronomist and her husband Mark have embraced science and innovation as they strive to create a sustainable future for their children, Peggy and Henry.

Katrina believes inland rail will be great for Parkes and for nearby families like hers that can benefit from the new business and industry it will generate.

But she's not sure the $10-billion project is the best way to future-proof freight movements for the next century, as the Federal Government likes to boast.

"Are we looking far enough ahead? Trains are realistic now but 10 years down the track? I don't think this is going to be 50-year technology that we are putting in place," Katrina says.

The Perth-to-Sydney track runs just metres from their house. The kids watch the trains roll by from the sunroom, their own Lego rolling stock strewn around them.

Most of the family's harvest of grains and pulses, including mung beans and lentils, is transported by B-double trucks to mills within 100 kilometres of their property.

Inland rail won't dramatically change that, Katrina says. But if it cuts the cost of getting freight to port for millers and exporters, then it could lead to higher farm-gate prices for producers.

"We are yet to get final numbers on what impact it will have for us — whether it's going to reduce those freight costs and whether that's going to be passed on to growers," Katrina says.

Benefits that may, or may not, come further down the track.

From a winning regional centre to Gwabegar, a village of worker cottages, some dilapidated, and an overgrown rail line.

The town went into decline from the late 1960s as increasing areas of the nearby Pilliga Forest were protected, squeezing out the timber industry.

Postmistress Carmel Jarvis is the linchpin of this tiny town in north-western New South Wales.

It's pronounced Wa-be-gar. The "G" is silent — just like this once-bustling timber and railway town, which farewelled its last train in the mid-2000s after the decline of the local sawmills.

As for many shrinking communities, the inland rail project has offered a tantalising promise of rebirth.

But locals have swayed between hope and scepticism. Will the freight trains just fly straight past, leaving little more than noise and dust?

Gwabegar appears deserted when we arrive, but the quiet is broken when we climb the stairs and enter the old weatherboard house-cum-post office.

Carmel is abuzz with excitement: the school population has exploded overnight, from six pupils to eight.

"There's a new family in town with two boys!" she exclaims. "We're struggling to keep the doors open on the school."

It's for the young families in particular that Carmel — the town's postmistress for the past 30 years, and now also its de facto grocer, chemist and counsellor — hopes that inland rail will bring some benefit.

Even if it's just a spur line to reopen the grain silo.

The town used to have a pub, 150 students at the school, a general store, butcher, baker, grain silo and a dozen sawmills.

Today, Carmel says, "we've got the school, we've got the police station, we've got the post office, we've got some timber cutters, but they're mainly local guys for firewood.

"And we have got a couple of truck businesses, but they're all the same, just trying to keep their heads above water.

"The train was the lifeline of the village. It was everything."

Her hopes were largely dashed last month when the Federal Government announced the preferred route for the inland rail had changed.

After considering three options, the chosen line bypasses Gwabegar. It will run about 30 kilometres south through the Pilliga Forest, rather than close to the town.

"We've been let down again," Carmel says, referring to the past shutdown of the timber industry. "There's nothing else on the horizon that's going to pick things up for us, mate."

However, she hopes the inland rail can offer at least something to those who've chosen to make Gwabegar home.

"People don't all want to live in Newcastle, Sydney or Wollongong. They want to come this side of the Blue Mountains," she says.

The rail line is planned to cut through the dense Pilliga Forest — a place of huge cultural significance to Aboriginal people.

The Pilliga embodies the beauty of the rugged Australian bush: 3,000 square kilometres of native forest, sandstone caves and flowing creeks.

Ron "Sonny" McGann and Merv Sutherland guide us through the towering pinnacles and canyons carved from the sandy soils of the forest by years of erosion.

The ravages of time have unearthed evidence that this area — known locally as The Cathedral — was a key gathering place of the Gamilaroi people.

It's a special place for both men. Merv is a New South Wales Aboriginal Heritage Officer and a member of the Baradine Aboriginal land council with Uncle Sonny, who is the former chair.

"Here you'll see evidence of stone-tool manufacturing — core stones, flakes, stone axes, bits of grinding stones, and scar trees with bark removed for cultural purposes," Merv says.

"There's also a burial associated with this area on the eastern side of the creek."

Merv says it appears from the preferred route through the Pilliga, the line could run close to this site.

Despite its somewhat underwhelming nickname — The Scrub — he says he's concerned about exactly where the line will go because there are many other sacred sites in the forest.

He says it's vital traditional owners are involved in setting the route, and on the ground during construction.

"These sites that we know of are quite significant to us … and potentially there's a lot more out there that have not been discovered."

Uncle Sonny, who is an elder, is supportive of the track going through the forest but only if all sacred sites are fully protected.

Among the sacred scar trees, the 84-year-old tells stories of his own deep connection with this place, where his ancestors lived among the ironbark, box trees, and cypress pines.

"I have spent the majority of my life in the Pilliga Forest," says the third-generation sleeper cutter. "I've been a timber worker most of my life … log cutting, felling pine for sawmills, sleeper cutting, felling ironbark for fencing."

He says the Melbourne-to-Brisbane railway would be a "a step in the right direction" if it provides much-needed jobs and income in the area.

There are many traditional owners and other Aboriginal land councils bordering and overseeing parts of the Pilliga.

The Narrabri Aboriginal land council is a traditional custodian of part of the forest and wants the line to go around it, as originally suggested by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC).

It says it would take two decades for a proper survey of the sacred sites.

"The Government is not aware of how dense the forest is and the significance of the area in relation to Aboriginal people," says Narrabri Aboriginal land council CEO Lynn Trindall.

Both land councils were not aware of the new proposed route through the Pilliga until informed by the ABC — and neither has had any consultation from the ARTC since May.

"For the ARTC, inland rail, to tell them after the fact is a little bit disrespectful. I think they should have spoken to the communities before the announcement," Merv says.

The ARTC has told the ABC it will consult further with all of the relevant Aboriginal land councils now that the preferred corridor has been announced.

Uncle Sonny says while he's OK with the idea, he agrees there must be a thorough survey carried out.

"There's plenty of scope for them to put a track through that won't interfere with our cultural and heritage sites," he says.

"I know it will take a bit of research but in the long run, and I think this is what Australia needs to look at, it's not short-term things, it's long-term things."

Merv says the ARTC should include the results from Aboriginal surveys in its environmental impact statement.

"It gives you an opportunity to look at potential sections where you could move the track around rather than having it go through and destroy something that is fairly significant."

The key question is: will a track that diverts around any Aboriginal cultural sites be straight and efficient enough for the project?

The controversial southern Queensland stretch of the route was decided only in late September.

This part of the line runs from the New South Wales border across the rich farming soils of Millmerran and the Condamine floodplain.

It's here, west of Brisbane, where the railway faces some of its harshest critics.

Railroaded. That's how Millmerran farmers Russell and Kim Stevens, and their three sons, feel.

They say there's a strong chance the Melbourne-to-Brisbane railway will cut their beef and cropping property, with its freshly renovated house, in half.

"For us, it would just totally shift everything. Sheds, silos, house, feedlot — the whole lot," says Russell, who estimates relocation costs at $3 million.

"It would totally destroy our income stream because most of our income is derived from the feedlot."

The Federal Government was considering four proposed routes running from the New South Wales and Queensland border to Toowoomba.

In September it chose a route that goes through Millmerran and via the Wellcamp Airport, putting any property within a 2-kilometre-wide corridor at risk.

The Stevens family says protesting isn't in their DNA, so drawing up anti-rail signs for the farmgate felt strange.

But Russell says he's determined to ensure the farm, established by his grandfather in the 1930s, remains for his sons.

"We have no intentions of getting smaller," Russell says. "I've got three boys that want to be farmers, that's what drives me every day of the week.

"And these blokes are not taking the place off me."

Like Russell, many farmers on the Condamine floodplain are furious about the route chosen by federal Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester.

They say any raised rail embankment could block floodwaters and threaten lives and property.

Their only hope is that engineers find the route is unworkable or too expensive when they do their detailed designs over the next 18 months.

Russell says any talk of money to compensate would not be welcome.

"If I wanted compensation I would have a for sale sign out the front.

"If they want to come through here they will drag me off here in handcuffs and a paddy wagon," Russell adds, leaning up against the feedlot's fence line. "I am not going."

Credits

Reporting and photography : Dominique Schwartz, Alexandra Blucher

: Dominique Schwartz, Alexandra Blucher Digital production : Katie Cassidy

: Katie Cassidy Editor : Dee Porter

: Dee Porter Graphics : Alex Palmer

: Alex Palmer Video: Ron Ekkel, Katrina Swift

Topics: community-and-society, regional, federal-government, australia, melbourne-3000, junee-2663, albury-2640, parkes-2870, gwabegar-2356, millmerran-4357, toowoomba-4350, brisbane-4000

First posted