The Wheatbelt Railway Retention Alliance (WRRA), an affiliated organisation of the Western Australian Farmers Federation Inc. (WAFarmers) will be holding a forum on Tier 3 rail network in York on Friday 30 March.

The Forum will provide an update on the activities and direction of the Alliance along with an address from CBH and Member for the Agricultural Region, the Hon Max Trenorden MLC.

Since forming in December 2010, the WRRA has been fighting to reinstate the full Tier 3 rail network to transport grain around the Wheatbelt.

Along the way, the Alliance has secured the support of 24 Local Governments, both metropolitan and rural, the RAC and the Curtin Monash Accident Research Centre.

WAFarmers Transport Spokesman and WRRA Chairman, Bill Cowan, said due to concerns in the country as well as metropolitan areas about the economical and environmental impact of the various transport modes, people are demanding that rail is utilised ahead of other forms of transport.

“Another important aspect is the safety factor of rail and contractors are now saying there are not enough trucks and not enough drivers to deliver the grain freight task to port,” Mr Cowan said.

“CBH has identified that if Tier 3 lines were upgraded, they can now cart grain on rail cheaper than road from all Tier 3 sites in operation. We must remember that 40 wagons and one locomotive can cart the same amount as 40 road trains.”

To highlight the importance of this issue and the hard work of the WRRA, Bill Cowan recently received the WAFarmers President’s Award for his work on Tier 3 rail.

The WRRA invites all stakeholders to attend Friday Tier 3 rail forum in York.