<p>Improvements to New South Wales’ north coast railway should be combined with a Pacific Highway upgrade to establish a transport corridor, the Railway Technical Society of Australasia (RTSA) said.</p> <p>RTSA government relations spokesman Andrew Honan said combining the Moorland to Herons Creek Pacific Highway upgrade with improvements to the North Coast rail line, could deliver significant economic, environmental and social benefits.</p> <p>"There needs to be a clear understanding of the opportunities for economies of scale and productivity by combining land acquisition, approval processes and earthworks construction for one transport corridor instead of two different road and rail alignments," Mr Honan said.</p> <p>The benefits could include decreased habitat fragmentation and fewer level crossing incidents under a better integrated design.</p> <p>There could also be a single communications backbone serving rail operations, motor vehicle users and better access to rail for maintenance and emergency services, RTSA believes.</p> <p>The RTSA has made a submission to the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority in response to its environmental impact statement on its planned Pacific Highway works. </p> <br />
