PREMIER Kristina Keneally says state cabinet will soon be discussing the Newcastle rail issue again but she is yet to be convinced on the merits of cutting the line.
After meetings with the community-based Save Our Rail group and the Jeff McCloy-backed Fix Our City group, Ms Keneally said she could see the arguments from both sides.
"I want to be sure we are not cutting off our nose to spite our face when it comes to the rail line," Ms Keneally said.
On her first official visit to the region after dropping in to John Hunter Hospital on Christmas Day, Ms Keneally also confirmed her doubts over the proposed Tillegra Dam, saying the need to bolster the Hunter's water supply needed to be balanced against the environmental costs of such a dam.
Ms Keneally also held out the promise of a health study for Muswellbrook and Singleton residents suffering from mining-related dust problems, but she poured cold water on calls to have mining royalties spent directly in the region.
Ms Keneally inspected rail carriages at the UGL rail factory at Broadmeadow and attended a ceremony at the John Gebhardt Centre - formerly the Ethnic Community Centre - in Waratah.
But most interest yesterday centred on the Newcastle rail line.
In an interview with The Herald, Ms Keneally said she had met last week with property developers GPT, who are proposing a redevelopment of the Hunter Street mall.
Agreeing the rail line formed "a manufactured barrier", Ms Keneally said she was looking for a "compromise that allows us to maintain that infrastructure but open up the area".
"What I don't want to see is a missed opportunity," Ms Keneally said.
"I also don't want to walk away from public infrastructure if we don't have to and I am trying to achieve both those aims.
"There were a number of options put on the table today and when I go into a cabinet decision-making process we will be looking at the range of them."
Ms Keneally did not say whether a decision would be made before or after the March 2011 election but she did promise "we're going to have a solution as soon as possible".
"What I needed to do before I had a cabinet discussion was to sit down with the Lord Mayor John Tate, the Minister for the Hunter, Jodi McKay, and to sit down with the local community - both those who support and those who oppose the removal of the rail line - so that when we have that discussion I am fully aware of what the possibilities are and fully aware of what the concerns are."
Ms Keneally spoke on radio yesterday about seeking a compromise position but she told The Herald she did not have a particular vision in mind.
She said heavy rail was "obviously a very efficient mover of people" between Newcastle and Maitland.
"Is there some scope to have other forms of transport - whether its the metro bus-style approach we have taken in Sydney, or light rail, or smaller buses?" Ms Keneally said. "What other forms of transport will a growing Newcastle require?"
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