Salisbury baulks at rail freight plan

Plans to move Adelaide’s rail freight line away from Salisbury will hurt local businesses, the council says.

Salisbury Council was one of three to vote against the proposal at last month’s Local Government Association general meeting.

Light Regional and Barunga West councils also voted against the motion.

The remaining 65 councils moved to lobby the State and Federal governments to build the bypass for trains travelling from Sydney and Melbourne to Perth and Darwin.

The proposed route would run around the back of the Adelaide Hills, from Murray Bridge to Mallala, 30km north of Salisbury.

Hills and inner-southern councils have been pushing for the change after years of resident complaints about traffic delays and screeching train wheels.

But Salisbury Mayor Gillian Aldridge said the bypass would have a “knock-on effect” for local businesses and future development.

“The City of Salisbury’s economic attraction is stimulated by the infrastructure we have in place, both with rail freight movement and the new Northern Expressway that will open shortly and this is something we would not want to lose,” she said.

“We are the gateway for local and interstate companies to do business and it is this which positions us as one of the state’s most productive regions.”

via Messenger News