Hobart railway enthusiasts are rallying against the conversion of the Northern suburbs railway into a busway in an effort to stop the state Government ‘ripping up the tracks’.
The Hobart Northern Suburbs Rail Action Group has taken the next step in their campaign by hanging signs at various sites with the message ‘railway not busway’.
The group’s president, Toby Rowallan, believes that the people of Hobart want to use the railway for modern commuter trains as well as heritage trains.
“This next step in our campaign will raise awareness of the Government’s “backwards” intentions to destroy the railway for buses,” he said.
“Around the world busways are being turned into railways, not the other way around!”
Mr Rowallan said that the government cannot afford to convert the tracks into a busway.
“Over the past two decades, there have been so many studies done, it is clear that the whole time various governments and the bureaucracy have deliberately inflated the cost of rail to justify their goal of destroying the railway.”
He believes that it would make more sense to have a passenger rail option for the development at Macquarie Point.
According to Rowallan, it would be the only AFL stadium without a rail line.
The Hobart Northern Suburbs Rail Action Group is not backing down from their goal of preserving the railway and providing a passenger rail option for future developments.
