Aboriginal rock art has been discovered during work to remove a boulder threatening the Blue Mountains railway line outside Sydney.
An archaeologist, with a speciality in Indigenous heritage, has confirmed that the multiple hand prints are “culturally significant”.
Sydney Trains, the NSW office of environment and heritage and Deerubbin Local Aboriginal Land Council are working together to ensure the rock art is preserved.
Passengers on the Blue Mountains Line may be impacted by further delays.
“We have an obligation to not only ensure the line is safe, but that appropriate measures are taken to preserve the rock art and document the findings,” said Howard Collins, the CEO of Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink.
“To do so, we’ve temporarily delayed efforts to break up the 20-tonne boulder piece-by-piece. Work is still continuing though to secure the site and make it safe.
“In light of this finding, we’d like to advise customers that disruption to services will continue longer than we anticipated, with buses continuing to replace trains between Springwood and Penrith until potentially early next week.
“I’d like to reassure people that we are doing everything possible to re-open the Blue Mountains Line as quickly as possible, while balancing safety and heritage concerns.
“We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land and we always seek to respect, recognise and celebrate Aboriginal culture across our network and organisation.”
