She invited them to meet with her at Parliament House in Perth, which they did on Thursday and were interviewed by television media with Ms MacTiernan that night.

Ms Alannah MacTiernan said the recommendations did not make sense on an economic, environmental or social basis.

“I urge the Government not to follow the recommendation of this committee,” Ms MacTiernan said.

“Closing these tracks in the heart of the State’s biggest grain growing region would be a disaster for farmers and local Wheatbelt communities.”

“The report claims the Government could save $94 million on track upgrades if the lines were closed, but admits it would have to spend $96 million in urgent road upgrades as a consequence of the rail closures.

“This proposal fails even the most basic cost benefit analysis as it will cost more to close the rail than to keep it open.

“In addition, this will be an economic disaster for farmers as there will be no competition to road transport and in the long run prices will inevitably skyrocket.

“Rail is up to nine times more fuel efficient that road transport when it comes to carting grain and as fuel prices increase this will become a real cost burden.”

Mr Jones, who farms at Bruce Rock, said he felt Wheatbelt farmers and citizens hadn’t been allowed adequate input into the SGNC’s report.

“Most of the members on the strategic committee live in Perth anyway and wouldn’t drive on the country roads, other than main highways.

“I don’t think enough regard’s been given to the women in the equation, the ones that have to drive on these roads to and from school with kids.

“Quite simply I fear for my wife and my daughter in law and the kids, driving on these roads with any more than the traffic they’re competing with now.

“I know that they have promised to upgrade the roads, but our fear is that these promises seldom come to fruition.

“When the Shackleton railway line was closed down they promised to fund road upgrades to compensate, but that money never eventuated.

“In the eastern states, a recent tragedy which killed several innocent people prompted them to restrict road traffic and keep as much freight as possible on rail.

“Unfortunately, if a similar tragedy happens here it will be too late to salvage the rail.

“I’ll go as far as saying that if people make a decision to put more heavy trucks on roads that aren’t fit for the job, and there’s an accident, they will be held accountable for it.”

The WA Farmers Federation Merredin Zone’s secretary Jane Fuchsbichler, whose family farms at Balka, voiced similar concerns.

“A lot of these decisions are made down in the city. They haven’t got a clue, they just look at a map and say, oh, this makes sense,” she said.

“It’s potentially catastrophic if they get this wrong. If we don’t jump up and down they may make a disastrous decision.”