Greens pledge to put Maldon-Dombarton rail line at top of $25 billion infrastructure list

The Loch Ness monster, a panther in the Illawarra escarpment and the Maldon-Dombarton rail line have been talked about for decades. But the Greens plan to make one of those myths a reality.

The Greens have pledged to deliver what countless state and federal governments have failed to and that is complete the mothballed semi-completed Maldon-Dombarton rail line, for which construction started in the 1980s.

The left-wing party’s senate hopeful David Shoebridge joined the Greens’ Illawarra candidates Dylan Green (Cunningham) and Jamie Dixon (Whitlam) at Kembla Grange Racecourse station for the announcement.

However, the bold promise to complete the final third of the 35km rail line could be dependent on if the Greens were to grab the balance of power at Saturday week’s federal election.

“For the last four decades this has been an incomplete piece of critical infrastructure,” Mr Shoebridge said.

“There’s a reason that’s happened, it’s because it’s not important to either major party. The Labor Party takes the Illawarra for granted and the Liberal Party know they can’t get seats here.

“That’s why we’re not getting the investment, that’s why we’ve got a half-finished bridge and a half-finished tunnel.

The incomplete Maldon-Dombarton rail bridge at the Nepean River. Picture: NSW Government

“The bridge to nowhere is a powerful statement about the lack of investment in core transport infrastructure for the Illawarra and southwest Sydney.

“The Greens are proposing a dual electric rail link that can support freight and connect homes and workplaces across the two regions. It needs to be seen as an essential economic boost for the Illawarra and southwest Sydney.’’

He said the Greens’ transport infrastructure plan would provide $25 billion over the next 10 years to get freight off the roads and provide the commuter rail solutions that the workforce has needed for decades.

The Maldon-Dombarton was first touted in the 1970s before construction began in 1983 under the Neville Wran’s Labor state government.

The proposed Maldon-Dombarton line could link the Illawarra to Sydney's southwest.

Five years later cost blowouts led to Liberal Premier Nick Greiner to halt construction despite committing to complete the line at the 1988 election.

Since a handful of attempts to rectify the projects have been mooted by federal and state governments, as well as the private sector but nothing has materialised with the unfinished bridge over the Nepean River the eerie reminder of what could have been.

Before the 2019 election, opposition transport spokesman Anthony Albanese promised $50 million to complete the project as a freight-only line.

Mr Dixon wasn’t able to give an exact figure on how much it would cost to finish the final 10km, but was confident more would need to be committed to finish the line.

Greens candidates Jamie Dixon (Whitlam), Dylan Green (Cunningham) and David Shoebridge (Senate) waiting for the train on the long awaited Maldon-Dombarton line. Picture: Dylan Arvela

That cost, Mr Dixon said, would be outweighed by the economic benefits of connecting the burgeoning West Dapto-Calderwood region with southwestern Sydney.

“In terms of prioritising infrastructure for the next government I think this is a no-brainer,” he said.

“All we need to do is finish what we started 40 years ago.

“The last estimates I saw was $19 million per kilometre which adds up to about $665 million, in terms of the economic benefits to the area, I think it’s a worthwhile investment.”

University of Wollongong professor and rail logistics expert Philip Laird has been advocating for the track to be completed for decades.

He believes it’s not a matter of if, but when the line gets finished. He argued the completion of the 4km Avon tunnel, which would be the longest rail tunnel in Australia, was not the engineering road (or train) block it was made out to be.

“It’s the most stunning piece of incomplete architecture on the planet to quote the secretary of the South Coast Labour Council, Arthur Rorris,” Prof Laird said.

“The recent rains and the impact they had on the South Coast line highlight the need for another rail corridor into the region.

“They were building lines like this in New Zealand back in the 1930s. With the tunnel boring equipment we have available today this shouldn’t take much to get this done.

“The cost would be in the hundreds of millions, but it wouldn’t be in the region of costs as some of the Sydney mega projects.”

The Illawarra Star contacted the office of Whitlam MP Stephen Jones for comment.

Mr Jones, along with retiring Cunningham MP Sharon Bird, have advocated for the completion of the Maldon-Dombarton on numerous occasions in the previous decade.