Inland Rail plans for Wagga level crossings at Docker Street and Fernleigh Road 'astounding', residents say

The Australian Rail Track Corporation earlier this month released the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Inland Rail's Albury to Illabo section for public exhibition and feedback.

The federal government's $14.5 billion Inland Rail project is designed to improve rail freight speeds and weight limits between Brisbane and Melbourne.

A technical paper attached to the EIS has estimated the traffic impact on Wagga crossings from longer trains travelling through the city and more often.

The Fernleigh Road level crossing will be the most affected crossing in the Albury to Illabo Inland Rail Section after construction is complete.

The average peak hour traffic queue length at the Fernleigh Road crossing will be 304 metres or 44 vehicles in 2025, growing to 724 metres or 68 vehicles by 2040.

A traffic queue of 304 metres would reach past the State Emergency Services and Rural Fire Service headquarters to the west and across Pinaroo Drive to the east, which links to the Southcity shopping centre.

The average peak hour traffic queue length at the Docker and Bourke streets crossing will be 248 metres or 57 vehicles in 2025, growing to 348 metres or 72 vehicles by 2040.

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A 248-metre queue would nearly reach the corner of the Wagga Base Hospital complex on Docker Street to the north and half-way along the Showgrounds on Bourke Street to the south.

Turvey Park resident Gary Roberts said he was concerned about both crossings and found it "astounding" that the crossings would not gain additional safety features.

"Wagga is the biggest inland city to still have an unregulated crossing on the busiest rail line in Australia," he said.

"It just doesn't make sense to me that the crossing will be left as is; the only thing Inland Rail are doing is checking whether it has the width and height suitable for a double-stacked containers; nothing on traffic or safety at all.

"It's a dangerous crossing that is going to become more dangerous.

"Increased numbers of trains and lengths of trains is going to cause greater delays at Docker Street; you have the fire station and ambulance station on the south side and the hospital on the north."

Assessments for both locations assumed two rail services would pass through the level crossing during a peak hour, with each train being 1800-metres long travelling at 80 kilometres per hour.

Traffic would be closed for 106 seconds at a crossing with no lights and boom gate and 121 seconds with a gate.

The technical paper acknowledged that the Inland Rail train speeds would range from 60 to 115 kilometres per hour.

Some residents have said they think the trains will have to go much slower through Wagga given the curve of the track.

Mr Roberts said the length of the trains would be enough to block multiple crossings if one broke down while travelling through in the city.

"To just rely on these minimal numbers [in the EIS] is to me a falsehood," he said.

Wagga resident Fran Trench said she supported the concept of Inland Rail but had concerns about the impact on traffic.

"It would be nice to have someone talk to us about the impact of having trains take longer to go though the level crossings and the increase of traffic at level crossings," she said.

"Our concern, being in the city, is if I needed an ambulance or fire engine, how long would it take to get to me?

"It would be nice to be having a more public conversation about how those impacts are going to be managed."

Both Docker Street and Fernleigh Road would remain at 'Level of Service A', which was the lowest traffic density level for urban roads.

'Level of Service A' means average conditions creating free-flowing traffic of 200 vehicles per hour for one lane in each direction or 900 per hour for two lanes in each direction with "excellent" comfort and convenience.

The EIS stated it was likely that the "significant" peak hour traffic queues from one train crossing at Fernleigh Road and Docker Street would fully dissipate before another train started its journey through Wagga.

An ARTC spokesperson said Inland Rail continued to work closely with relevant authorities to minimise delays to motorists at level crossings, whilst still maintaining a safe environment.

"Although Technical Paper 1: Traffic and Transport does forecast an increase in average queue length at level crossings from 2025 to 2040, this is due to an increase in overall road traffic volume, rather than a change in level crossing wait times," the spokesperson said.

"The assessment has conservatively used the numbers of vehicles impacted during a peak hour level crossing closure to calculate queue length. Outside of the peak hour, queuing at the level crossings would be less than shown in the assessment."

Late last week the NSW Department of Planning and Environment granted a 14-day extension to the original 28-day submission period for the Inland Rail environmental impact statement, which will now close on September 28.

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