PRIVATE MEMBERS' STATEMENTS
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EPPING RAILWAY STATION SLEEPERS
Page: 19619
Mr TINK (Epping) [5.20 p.m.]: I raise concerns about the state of the Epping railway station area. I am pleased that the honourable member for Canterbury, the Parliamentary Secretary for Transport, is in the Chamber. In a letter dated 22 June to the Minister for Transport I expressed concern in relation to the state of sleepers in the immediate vicinity of Epping station: a number of badly deteriorated wooden sleepers were supporting the line running closest to Beecroft Road. The Parliamentary Secretary for Transport replied on 23 August. The sleepers had rotted away entirely, had split in two or were in a very poor condition. That line carries interurban trains, XPTs and freight trains. Epping is one of the busiest stations in Sydney. In effect, the trains are travelling on kindling.
The Parliamentary Secretary indicated that those sleepers would be replaced in the current re-sleepering program. One of my constituents, Mrs Merle Passmore, who has drawn this matter to my attention again, told me that instead railway ballast was thrown on the existing sleepers, which had all but splintered away. This is a serious safety concern. They were marked by spray paint, obviously by railway inspectors, but they have all subsequently been covered by railway ballast. Indeed, in anticipation of making this statement, this morning I looked at the sleepers at Epping station from the overpass. I am concerned that the ballast is now hiding the problem. To my mind there is no substitute for the sleepers being in position and being fit for the purpose for which they are designed: to stop the rail from spreading and thereby causing derailments. They are also designed to keep up the rail, to stop it digging in, and to bear the weight of very heavy and at times quite fast travelling trains. I am bothered that the sleepers do not appear to have been replaced but instead have been covered with ballast.
Obviously I do not blame the Parliamentary Secretary or the Government for this. However, I draw their attention to what appears to be a cosmetic solution, which causes concern to my constituents, who are frequent train travellers in the Epping area, and to me. I would be grateful if the Parliamentary Secretary would take up this matter again and ascertain whether something more than placing ballast over the existing sleepers is anticipated. When will new sleepers be provided? I also raised another concern relating to railway ballast adjacent to the intersection of Beecroft and Carlingford roads, Epping, with the Minister's office in a letter dated 26 October. I received a reply on 6 November from Roberta Burgess of the Ministerial Correspondence Unit. That ballast, which ultimately forms part of the platform foundation upon which the main railway line is based, has started to come away and is now pressing very hard on a cyclone steel wire fence.
I am not an estimator but it seems to me that many tonnes of railway ballast, on the top of which are placed a number of very large pre-formed reinforced concrete structures, is now pressing so hard on this cyclone steel wire fence that it has been pushed down to a 45 degree angle from the vertical and is starting to split open. If the railway ballast and possibly some of these big reinforced concrete structures get through the fence they could come down directly on to traffic on Beecroft Road. My constituent Clare Wagemans has raised this concern, and again I ask the Parliamentary Secretary to follow up the correspondence. The cyclone wire fence shows every sign of giving way at any time, which would result in hundreds of tonnes of ballast being on the road. I ask that both those matters be looked at. [Time expired.]
Mr MOSS (Canterbury—Parliamentary Secretary) [5.25 p.m.]: I appreciate the remarks of the honourable member for Epping, who said that he does not blame me or the Minister for these matters. I am not an expert on the stability of sleepers, but perhaps the sleepers were marked to be checked. It may be that they have been found to be stable and the ballast that has been laid may be a proper procedure. However, in the interests of safety and ensuring that the sleepers are in good shape, I will personally see that they are checked again. I will also take up with the railway authorities the matter in relation to the ballast that is laying near Beecroft Road.