Wagga crowd turns out to air Inland Rail project concerns in person

Some residents are unhappy the proposed route will "bisect the city" by making use of the existing rail line.

This was part of the original Inland Rail proposal, intended to be a cost and time saving measure that would reduce the need for the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to secure easements, or build new track.

Residents and Ratepayers Association president Chris Roche said this was a "cop out", and we should be building infrastructure fit for the future of the community, not simply what's easiest.

"This is the cheapest route, that's what it's all about. That's why they're coming through the centre of Wagga," he said.

"I just don't see why as NSW largest inland city we have to have a rail line that cuts the city in half - other places don't have it.

"We're not against Inland Rail coming to Wagga - it's wonderful ... we just don't want it to come through the centre of Wagga."

An original consultation session planned for last week was cancelled due to safety concerns, and rescheduled for Tuesday.

Calls for a bypass have grown louder since then, gaining the public support of state MP Joe McGirr, and Councillor Richard Foley.

Inland Rail director of program delivery Melvyn Maylin said they were hearing a lot of the same concerns in Wagga they'd heard in other places along the Albury to Parkes section.

"People are concerned about the impact on their personal property," he said.

"When you really start talking to them, it's things like noise and vibration, connectivity across the railway line, what happens when we build some of the infrastructure, and a few have raised the issue of grade separations of some key crossing in town, which are not part of Inland Rail.

"Let's be clear - the railway line is already there. We're not building a new railway line, we're not adding extra tracks, we're not bisecting the town."

Mr Maylin said there was a lot of misinformation circulating about the project, creating more opposition than there needed to be based on the facts.

He pointed to the number of trains that will be added to the line as an example.

While information has circulated this could add dozens of trains a day to the line in the near future, the business case predicts two additional trains per day when the line is completed.

Uranquinty resident Graeme Geaghan was expected rail traffic to dramatically increase past his home near the rail line.

He said answers provided by Inland Rail representatives satisfied him the changes would not be as significant as he'd thought.

"We were worried more trains and bigger trains would affect us with noise," he said.

"The information I got there was by 2040, the number of trains going past us would increase by six a day.

"I was told there were going to be an extra 40 a day, and all sorts of things. As far as that's concerned, I've found a lot of information."

As long as there are no costings on an inland rail bypass in Wagga, the argument about whether it's possible remains abstract.

Cr Foley and Joe McGirr have both called on political leaders to look at the case for a bypass because of the community concerns they have heard.

Mr Maylin said he'd heard people's concerns about the route, but didn't personally think a bypass would be economically viable.

"Whenever you want to build something, what people would say is why don't you build the finished product now instead of in the future?" he said.

"It comes down to resource allocation. I made the point to them if you can only afford a mini, you can't have a Rolls Royce, and the same applies to any resource allocation.

"Government's pockets are not bottomless. My own opinion is when it comes to resource allocation you build what you can afford that's appropriate for now, you don't build the wish list for 15 years or 20 years into the future."