Hi all,

There is a review by the dept of infrastructure, transport, regional development, and local government about the Inland Rail (Google and you can see details).  It  had called for opublic sbmissions and we sent several before the deadline. We reiterated the fact that the business case costings for Inland rail have become incorrect. If the government is contemplating rerouting the Inland rail due to cvost blowouts and flooding etc. it should consider northern railway line as an alternate route as advocated by the New England Councils in the past.  There was a Senate inquiry last ydear it recommended several recommendations.One is to construct a poassenger train line alongside the Inland rail route. We argued that rather than spend money to construct a totally new line, government should use the existing line in New England.  Also connecting Tamworth intertmodel terminal with Inland rail at a point like Toowoomba makes sense.

Peace Studies Conference at UNE starting on December 1st.

We plan to set up an information desk.  Also on December 2nd from 2.00pm we will give a talk to conference participants about the benefits of restoring train services from Armidale to Wallangarra (arts theatere 2).  All are welcome!

Tenterfield Visit

Members of Northern Railway Defenders Forum plan to visit Tenterfield and Wallangarra  for community consultstions  on December 12th.  Venue- Bowling Club .Time noon onwards. Residents of these two locations and surrounding areas are welcome.  Aim is to hold a public forum early in 2023.

There is an article about Rail trails vs Steam trains in NSW in Sydney Morning Herald today.  LInk is

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/steam-trains-v-cyclists-advocates-fight-to-repurpose-old-train-tracks-20221109-p5bwte.html?fbclid=IwAR2P2UauK3MsnSQr_7lb2LSZ_9sfEn5W4JOb04jylKD6LqWIb-Jk1PRQWRE

This contest is evident in New England also. One group proposing a rail trail from Armidale to Glen Innes(with the support of two councils) and another planning to run a tourist train. I am more than convinced that someone should run a tourist train between Uralla and Armidale-with future extension to Guyra several times a day. It can attract many visitors to the region. But for something like tis to happen we need visionary leaders in the Councils!