Railway lines needs to be moved

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MOVE the 19th century railway line running through Rockhampton out of the city.

This was the message from Rail, Train and Bus Union organiser Craig Allen yesterday, after the Cairns Tilt Train collision with a utility on Denison St at 2.10am.

"Today the Rail Train and Bus Unions renews its calls for this railway line that was built through Rockhampton in the 19th century to be relocated outside the main city area," Mr Allen said.

"This is not the first time this has occurred in Rockhampton and it certainly will not be the last."

His calls were backed by Federal Member for Capricornia Kirsten Livermore who said she was committed to test the feasibility of alternative routes for freight transport - including heavy vehicles and cattle trucks - and the railway line.

She said she was awaiting the study results, in which the Federal Government gave the State Government $5 million towards, to look at this.

"Obviously I'm of the view that the heavy trucks and trains, including cattle trucks, should not run through the centre of the city and the current 19th century railway infrastructure needs to be replaced and diverted away from the centre," Ms Livermore said.

Mr Allen pointed out one of the issues with the railway line running through Denison St was the possibility of a disastrous event with vehicles doing U-turns in front of the trains' path.

He said while trains travelled at a maximum of 25kmh, and in most incidents train drivers were able to see the events unfold in front of them, this would not be the case with vehicles doing U-turns in front of them.

Mr Allen said if the train had been travelling 10kmh faster, yesterday's accident would have been absolutely disastrous.