Saturday, Jan 13, 2024 at 12:00
One of the interesting points (legally) - as regards any of the rail line reservations in W.A., anyway - (I can't speak for areas outside W.A.), is that the railway reserve boundaries are plotted precisely on the W.A. Land Titles system (run by Landgate).
You can view the Railway Reserve title boundaries on the Landgate Mapviewer.
If you are on the Railway Reserve without the rail authority authorisation, you are technically trespassing.
However, the Trans Line Access road meanders all over the place, as with many original tracks. This road does not sit 100% within the Railway Reserve boundaries, between Kalgoorlie and the W.A. - S.A. border.
I would not be surprised if the situation is the same in S.A.
So, as a result, for many, many kms of the Trans Access road, you are most certainly NOT trespassing on the Railway Reserve, you are driving on Unallocated Crown Land, or Pastoral Leases.
The Trans Access road is NOT a surveyed and gazetted road, unlike 99% of the roads in W.A. It is a "public" road in legal terms, because the public can easily access it.
It has no gates on it, nor any warning signage to say it is a private road, and no warnings to the public to stop at any point - unlike the heavily patrolled private iron ore lines access roads in the North of W.A.
In fact, Trans Access road signage states the condition of the road for public useage (with regard to weather events).
When the pandemic started, and during several severe bushfire events that closed Highway One, the
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Council actually pushed for the upgrade and sealing of the Trans Access road to an all-weather highway status.
https://www.kalminer.com.au/news/kalgoorlie-miner/seal-trans-access-road-to-stop-wa-being-cut-off-from-nation-odonnell-ng-b881430646z
The Trans Access road has been used for many, many years for road haulage of lime from Loongana, Nth of
Rawlinna.
As a result, any Rail Authority that has control of the Trans Line, in trying to legally enforce a trespass charge against Trans Access road users, would have to produce a certified copy of the Land Title outlining the Railway Reserve precise boundaries, and also produce a verified precise location and identification of your vehicle at the particular date and time of trespass, to be able to sustain a trespass charge.
And at the the end of the day, you only have to produce a lawful reason for your incursion onto the Railway Reserve to be able to beat the trespass charge.
Besides the previous reasons outlined, as regards a Rail Authority stopping you from using the Rail Reserve, the other simple reason Trans Access road use is discouraged is because of drug trafficking, and if you use the Trans Access line, don't be surprised if you come across a W.A. Police
road block carrying out vehicle inspections.
Finally, the MAJOR reason why any Rail Authority is down on the use of their access roads that run alongside rail lines for maintenance purposes, is the problem of idiots with 4WD's TRYING TO CROSS rail lines, at points where there is NO DEDICATED ROAD-RAIL CROSSING point.
These idiots then get stuck on the rail line, and the eventual crash between their stuck vehicle and a rail vehicle is almost inevitable.
I won't even go into the amount an event like that would cost an offender, but I can assure them, they'll lose everything they own, if they're stupid enough to initiate an event like that.
Cheers, Ron.
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