Railways just waiting for the signal
Soaring insurance burden is holding back development in Tasmania’s valuable heritage rail sector, says Owen Andrews
READER Diane Courtney got very close to the truth in her letter to the editor (“Restored trains just waiting for a signal,” September 2).
All around mainland Australia, tourist and heritage railways flourish as highly popular attractions for locals and interstate visitors.
They are recognised by their communities as providing a valuable source of direct and indirect employment and economic stimulus, as well as many intangible benefits such as providing a place for volunteering, skills training, and for recalling history.
In Tasmania however, these opportunities remain largely untapped.
Some local councils are aware of the benefits to be gained from heritage railways in their municipalities and do what they can to support them.
But to fully realise the state’s tourist rail potential, more support is needed from the upper echelons of the state government.
The Derwent Valley Railway, for example, has been working tirelessly for many years, lobbying to regain access to the Derwent Valley Line to start restoration work and bring the line back up to an operational standard.
Over these years the organisation has passed many hurdles and roadblocks, some requiring special legislation to be passed in the state’s parliament to be overcome.
It’s been a long ride, but now just one hurdle remains before work can get under way — public liability insurance.
The Tasmanian state government recently announced that anyone wishing to operate a railway on Crown land, or the TasRail network, must carry public liability insurance covering a minimum of $200 million.
At a cost of approximately $80,000 per year per railway, this policy is prohibitively expensive.
It is currently holding back all development in the heritage rail sector in Tasmania, whether it be in the Derwent Valley, in Hobart’s northern suburbs, in Devonport or in Tasmania’s North-East.
In every other state and territory in Australia, governments have developed arrangements to allow this insurance cost to be shared and not burdened by individual operators.
In an attempt to resolve this development deadlock, the Derwent Valley Railway, along with other members of the Tasmanian Association of Tourist Railways, have submitted a funding proposal to the Tasmanian government.
The proposal would see the government fund a proportion of the insurance cost, diminishing its contribution by a percentage each year, reaching 0 per cent after eight years.
This would allow time for the heritage rail sector to develop their businesses to a point where they are able to be financially self-sufficient and able to support the higher cost of insurance.
The proposal is currently being considered by Tasmania’s Department of Treasury and Finance for the 2020-2021 budget, which is due to be handed down in November.
Its inclusion, however, is far from certain and people are encouraged to write to the Premier Peter Gutwein in his position as tourism minister and treasurer and make their support known.
This is the last hurdle to be overcome before tourist and heritage rail projects can finally get off the ground and development can begin.
It’s time for the Tasmanian government to deliver on its 2018 election commitment to support tourist and heritage rail and make them front and centre on the government’s infrastructure building agenda.
PUBLIC LIABILITY INSURANCE POLICY IS HOLDING BACK ALL DEVELOPMENT IN HERITAGE RAIL, WHETHER IN THE DERWENT VALLEY, HOBART’S NORTHERN SUBURBS, DEVONPORT OR THE NORTH-EAST