Freight move a boost for Midland
Moving Midland's freight rail line could be as transformative for the region as the Perth City Link for the city, the head of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority says.
MRA chief executive Kieran Kinsella said the growing size and frequency of freight trains meant Midland was moving towards a "break point" when the noise and vibration would become too much and the line would have to be realigned.
"It will be expensive to realign the railway line but the number of freight trains that are 1.8km long, double-stacked containers on them, is ever increasing and so there will be a break point, if you will, where you can no longer have that amount of freight traffic running through a major strategic centre," he said.
Moving the line is a key element of the MRA's Midland draft master plan, which was released for comment last month and spelt out its ambitions for the city.
The plan includes big projects, such as a medical and education hub that would include the $22 million Curtin University campus promised by the State Government but yet to be funded, relocating the train station and bus interchange to the centre of town and various commercial and residential developments.
