Decrepit railway bridges hamper rail reviva

摘要

"Plus La Change; toujours la memo chose" goes the old French saying and aptly sums up ongoing problems with railway infrastructure and operations in NSW. In 1884 a NSW government Royal Commission into wrought iron railway bridges found significant structural problems. That was not long after they were built. Now, almost 120 years later most of these bridges are miraculously still in operation and they are again back in the news. Recently in the spotlight was the 140-year-old Menangle Bridge on the main southern line southwest of Sydney. The bridge spans the Nepean River. Not far south from there the nineteenth century built railway winds its way up the Razorback spur to the Southern Highlands. From the line there are regular glimpses of the old Hume Highway and less frequent glimpses of its straightened, fast, dual carriageway replacement constructed in the past two decades. The days are long gone in NSW when rail was the preferred mode for freight and passenger travel.