Trains North protest council meeting - Letters to the editor

I cannot believe that ARC could act to support an action which effectively eliminates any further rail service north of Armidale by conversion of the rail corridor and subsequent removal of rail infrastructure .

As one who has worked on helping to restore and reintroduce rail services north, after the premature and effective closure by default many years ago, It would be an economic tragedy to deprive the region of the rail services opportunities waiting our support and regional backing . To settle for a limited, highly speculative and selective recreational use and conversion of the rail corridor north, and seek to selectively support and apply the federal grant monies, and ARC funding, demeans your role as representatives of a wider community, notably Armidale Regional Council . I believe you can do better.

Start by opening a meeting with Mr David Peters , a business executive who wants to build and operate a clean and green health products enterprise north of Guyra, and needs rail based services for his operations- he has offered to help with any repairs to infrastructure .

Many of you elected may not know of the long term engagement and work of the New England Railway group Inc established over 25 years ago, and that group`s willingness to plan and reintroduce a northern light rail service to accommodate commuter passenger, tourism and light freight to reconnect in due course with Tenterfield and the border.

That group had a business plan to be fully enacted once rail access to the rail infrastructure north of Armidale could be agreed by state rail authorities . After exhaustive efforts, rail access was denied and the work of the private rail group - after its expenditure on rolling stock suited to the purposes and infrastructure - effectively sidelined for years until more recently reactivated with the threat of `rail trail` conversion.

You may not know that Armidale, in that business plan, was envisioned as a rail hub - servicing the intermix and interchange functions of of state rail services, heritage rail, and interconnecting with transport services to regional tourist attractions, as well as a replacement and regular rail service for the northern residents if our state services could not be re-introduced . In fact, there was earlier discussion with bike trail supporters about how a light rail service and trail cyclists could operate jointly, given the NER rail rolling stock design, open to carrying hikers, campers, bikers and associated gear back and forward to villages and towns north of Armidale.

There is much to reconsider here in the future of this rail infrastructure we are fortunate to still have. And any ARC support for its demolition effectively turns Armidale into a rail terminus , not the rail and transport hub it can become, bringing, and adding the jobs, people, and variety of economic inputs our Mayor envisages so publicly for Armidale .

Given the obvious and frequently mentioned delay and problems in the state rail`s unwillingness to restore infrastructure and services , the lease of our northern rail corridor to private rail ,with or without a partnership to state rail - even in its (current) neglected form - is still a viable and progressive way to bring about a much more balanced and progressive use of a regional asset.

It may well be a long track and time until we reconnect with Queensland by rail at the border for interstate commerce and full freight and passenger service , but no reason now to destroy our present infrastructure and opportunities . Any proposed `rail trail` in the corridor can be located alongside the railway ,as is done in other places ,and would be a good sign of a cooperative future and a broader vision for all.

Des Bowlay, former president New England Railway Inc and Trains North member

The Armidale Regional Council and the Glen Innes Severn Council are pushing ahead with their plans for the proposed New England Rail Trail.

The 103 km rail trail, from Armidale to Glen Innes, will be built on the existing Great Northern Railway corridor. To do this all the train tracks and sleepers will be removed and a solid bed laid down to form the trail.This would mean that all hopes of trains returning to the Great Northern Railway line, to provide a safe, reliable and affordable mode of public transport, for the people of the New England region, will be lost forever, especially with the aforementioned Councils taking up a 30 year lease on the railway corridor.The Great Northern Railway will become a sad memory, seen in photos, at a museum, or on a plaque, next to the trail, indicating where the line used to run.

For those people, like myself, who want the return of trains to the Great Northern Railway line, the time is now, to express your opposition to this rail trail, before it is too late!

Write letters of protest, to your Council and Councillors, opposing the planned rail trail, and promote the merits of maintaining the railway corridor, for the re-introduction of train services. On the 14th September, at the upcoming Council elections, only give your vote to candidates, who oppose the rail trail and support the return of trains to the Great Northern Railway line.

Chris Jones

Things are crook in Tallarook

As New England voices are overlooked

The Mayor of Armidale determined to put in a coffin nail

To the hopes of northward rail.

NSW Government are very busy

Spending billions on transport for Sydney

Who gave the Armidale Mayor the right

To sign away New England's plight

Come on Gina or Twiggy can you spare a few million

To help the people of New England?

We need a passenger train

On this side of the range

To and from Queensland - all aboard

Bringing growth and a lot more

Travel by rail is a greener way

And helps to prevent climate change

Leave the corridor and lease untouched

Things can change and Mayoral elections lost

Decisions and Governments may change

Leading the way to our train.

The rail line was built by our forefathers

Paid and maintained by taxpayers

Petitions loud and clear have fallen on deaf ears

Glen Innes people do not support their Mayor

As the recent people's survey has made clear

They want their Council to support our rail

Not a bicycle trail

Generations now and into the future

Their Town's growth prospects thwarted.

Get on your bike

There are plenty of other sites

Roslyn Pelchen

Anzac Day is a day of sacred significance, a day we put aside to remember the men and women who defended our country in times of turmoil, many making the final sacrifice of giving up their own life.

In 2018, my cousin was able to visit several Commonwealth War Graves in Europe, the highlight being Villers-Bretonneux in France. It was a poignant, personal trip to pay respect to her great uncle on the 100th anniversary of his death.

Her great uncle James Arthur died on 2 June 1918, aged 24 and my cousin was the first relative to visit his grave. James enlisted with his brother Baron in 1916 and they left Australia to fight in the First World War. There was a sense of tranquillity, but also deep sadness, seeing rows and rows of headstones of young men who never returned home, with over 10,000 names of Australians commemorated at the memorial. She was overcome with emotion standing at his grave, but felt a bonded connection, speaking out loud to the great uncle who died so young.

Even though this account centres on our family member, it casts our thoughts to so many others who lost loved ones. How can we ever forget those who fought for freedom, for the wonderful lifestyle that we all enjoy today? These sentiments and honour will be bestowed on all men and women who served so faithfully for our country.

Lest we forget.

Rita Young