On the back of GrainCorp reporting more than 135,000 tonnes at its Dookie site from the winter crop harvest, Ms Maxwell said restoring the rail line — which closed in 2007 — would bring benefits to the small town and surrounds.
Ms Maxwell said the grain was transported to and from Dookie by trucks, which caused congestion on local roads.
“For my part, I would also point out that rail line upgrades in regional and rural Victoria generally deliver many other benefits too, including lowering the numbers of truck trips on our roads, thereby reducing road congestion and trauma, and maintenance requirements, as well as significantly reducing carbon emissions,” she said in parliament recently.
Ms Maxwell said the issue was raised in parliament by State Member for Shepparton Suzanna Sheed in 2015, but since then nothing had been done.
“That question was met with the response that the government was liaising with GrainCorp on the possibility of reopening the line as part of a broader statewide process of considering rail upgrades,” Ms Maxwell said.
“However, the line ultimately wasn’t reopened, and publicly there has been barely any statement by someone in authority about the matter since.
“That lack of progress in 2015 was obviously disappointing, especially amid calls for action at the time from the likes of GrainCorp, the Dookie rail group and the Rail Freight Alliance.”
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