Residents of the New England, who have been participating for decades in campaigns to re-activate the Great Northern Railway (GNR) line for passenger services, are often derided by their opponents as living in the age of steam locomotives.
In 2026 two important events have dramatically enlivened and boosted New England Network’s campaign for a better future for the whole of New England, where the GNR line becomes the foundation for a much better quality of life:
- Closure of the Strait of Hormuz, due to the intense bloody war involving Iran, Israel and USA, has caused the price of diesel fuel for road freight to rise astronomically and extremely fast. It is already causing numerous smaller trucking firms to close down, because they are unable to pass the increased diesel charge onto their big business clients, under rigid contracts they have to honour.
- The Australian Government terminated Inland Rail beyond Parkes on 6-may-2026. That now creates an unexpected opportunity for the Australian Government to re-activate the long idle GNR line between Armidale and Wallangarra in QLD.
The New England Network (NEN) is a grouping of many committed residents and existing advocacy and campaign groups to make decision makers in Canberra, Macquarie Street, in ARC, in GISC and Tenterfield Shire Council to question decisions that create a permanent barrier to re-activating the GNR line north of Armidale.
OUR VISION
- Stage 1: Make the re-activated GNR line for a vibrant, business and wealth generator for the whole of the New England region, as the GNR Artery.
- The GNR Freight Artery can begin moving small loads of container freight very quickly with minimal cost and time delay for the businesses now being created at Llangothlin Guyra by NEID and David Peter‘s organic food production facility
- Stage 2: extend the GNR Freightn Artery by making the existing line dual gauge from Wallangarra QLD to Toowoomba.
- Stage 3: Explore the possibility of a new section of dual gauge line from Wallangarra to Warwick, Beaudesert, Acacia Ridge and ultimately Brisbane. Standard gauge trains already run from Sydney right into the Brisbane CBD via the NSW Coast Line.
- Stage 4: Explore the same plan that Inland Rail had for building a new line from Gowrie (Toowoomba) to Port of Gladstone, via existing coal lines in central QLD, such as the Surat Basin Line.
IGNORE THE “LOOK OVER HERE” DISTRACTIONS
- NERT’s Cycling+Walking Trail can be built in the GNR corridor as an off-formation design, beside the GNR line, with a fence to separate people and trains. It has been done many times already at Oberon and sections of Parramatta Light Rail L4 near Carlingford, to name just 2.
- Many cycling trails are also built beside busy main highways with just a light separation between cars, trucks and cyclists
New England Network
23-sep-2026