Blue Mountains: Truck tsunami predicted

NRMA director Graham Blight believes a “transport tsunami” will hit our roads after it was announced Patrick Port Logistics would cease operating rail services between Dubbo and Port Botany on June 30.

Patrick will cease all services to and from its port in a move that is expected to force an extra 45,000 trucks onto NSW roads, both in the bush and in Sydney.

The company cited “rail’s poor share of freight movements” as the reason behind the decision.

But Mr Blight sent a warning that the State’s roads can’t handle the current volume of traffic and added he believes the run from Dubbo to Sydney through the Blue Mountains is one of NSW’s most dangerous stretches of highway.

“This will work out at close enough to 1000 extra trucks on the roads every week,” Mr Blight said.

“We have a transport tsunami coming and it will hit roads that are already not capable of safely handling the volume of traffic."

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Don't Close The Depot Down
A Song by John Hospodaryk©John Hospodaryk 2009
[Winner of the 2009 RTBU Railway Song and Poem Competition]


Two thousand trucks across the Great Divide,
Two thousand truckloads of fuel that will ride
Upon the road when there's a train that can bring it safely to your town,
Safely to, safely to your town.
So all I ask of you is don't you, don't you close that depot down,
Don't you close, don't you close that depot down.

We gotta let that rolling stock stay upon the rail,
It's rolled a hundred years, it has never failed.
Don't wanna see them trucks crowdin' up the whole highway,
Whole, whole, whole highway,
So all I ask of you is don't you, don't you take that train away,
Don't you take that, take that train away.

Carbon footprints are truckin' up 'n' down the road,
Up 'n' down, up 'n' down the road.
One of these days one of them rigs you know is bound to explode,
How can we bear such a heavy load!

They're layin' off the workers, I heard it on the news,
'Cos private contractors is what they wanna use,
You know we gotta get together, people, spread the news all around,
All around, spread the word around. We must demand that they don't,
they don't close that depot down,
They must not close, close that depot down.