IT is only a small step, but work has began to remove Newcastle’s heavy rail line near Wickham railway station.
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A handful of workers began detaching metal clips that connect sleepers and the rail line behind the Hunter Water building on Thursday morning.
It is believed the majority of the rail in that section, between the site for the planned transport interchange and the first pedestrian crossing, will be removed over the next week or so. The operation is being conducted quietly, without any fanfare or protest after what has been one of the city’s longest running sagas.
The Newcastle Herald reported last month that the legal dramas over the removal of the heavy rail looked over, with a bill to close the line at Wickham passing through NSW Parliament by 17 votes to 14 in its upper house.
It paved the way for the tracks to be removed and major works to get under way, more than 10 months after the government ceased running trains into Newcastle station.
More to come.
