Dear rail supporter,
Our epetition seeking the reinstatement of passenger trains between Armidale and Wallangarra(Qld border) to the Legislative Council is open for signature once again. If you or your friends and family have not signed this before, please sign. It is important that we get more signatures to this petition.
We are collecting signatures for our other petition to the Legislative Assembly. Our target is 10,000 signatures. Currently we have passed 8000. You can access a copy in the Northern Railway Defenders Forum fb page or Passenger Trains North of Armidale fb page. If you send me a message, I can forward a copy as well. Given below are the links:
https://www.facebook.com/TrainsNorth
https://www.facebook.com/NewEnglandTrains
Thirdly, New England Rail Inc. is seeking donations to restore the two rail cars parked in the shed near Armidale station and operate tourist trains. I would appreciate if you are able to mnake a donation to this important venture. Use the following link or their fb page to donate:
https://www.facebook.com/NewEnglandTrains
This year, the federal government's Department of Regional infrastructure, transport, regional development and local government under Minister Catherine King had announced a review on the Inland rail. One of the themes was the way the route was selected. Northern Railway Defendefrs Forum was able to send a submission before the deadline which was midnight yesterday. Most submissions will appear in the review website later. Keep an eye on these.
Rail Trail Funding for New England Rail Trail(NERT):
Armidale Regional Council (ARC) has applied for additional funding required for the start of this rail trail from the Building Better Regions Fund(BBRF). It is seeking to build the section from Armidale to ben Lomond. Our understanding is that ARC is short of up to 10 million in required fundimng. Under the leadership of Hon.Catherine King,Minister for regional infrastructure,transport etc. the last round of BBRF,namely 5th round, was cancelled. Applicants like ARC were required to send their applications again for a new fund that the department has established. This time around, they will be evaluated by an independent panel of assesors to avoid charges of pork barelling. This means, the start of work on NERT will be further delayed. In any case, the government funding covers only the construction part. Maintenance will be the responsibility of Councils. Under the rail Trail Bill 2022 passed by NSW government in June with the support of coalition and Labor, regional rail corridors can be leased to Councils up to 30 years to operate ventures like rail trails or construct roads.