Residents push to get train line back on track

– Melissa Meehan
REOPENING the railway line from Lang Lang to Leongatha has been a dream for residents since its closure in the 1990s.
And the push to reopen the railway line all the way to Cranbourne has gained momentum, with a public meeting being held later this month in Lang Lang.
The public meeting aims to elect a lobbying committee to get the railway reinstated.
Spokesman for residents backing the rail line Terry Bertalli said the purpose of the meeting was to get people involved in the issues.
“Former politician Susan Davies will speak at the meeting about her work in the past in relation to the rail line,” he said.
“She did a lot of work, but when she lost her seat in a reshuffle it hasn’t been mentioned.
“They just dropped it, it’s been put in mothballs.”
Mr Bertalli said the line was closed in 1993, but the government then spent $6 million on a feasibility study to get it going again in the late ’90s.
“People thought it would be up and running again by 2004,” he said.
“Some even bought land in Lang Lang and Kooweerup in anticipation of it coming back.”
He said the rail line would be a big relief for those travelling towards the city. “We need a new track but the easement is still there,” he said.
“There is so much traffic on the road, it would help with that too.”
Mr Bertalli said he was expecting a fairly big turn out at the meeting to be held at the Lang Lang Memorial Hall on Thursday 28 April from 7.30pm.
“We don’t need a hell of a lot of people, just as long as they are keen,” he said.
“We can only try to get the wheels moving.”
For more information call Terry on 0428 182 313.