A revamped NSW TrainLink coach network just unveiled will shave more than two hours off travel times for some rural residents.
The NSW government says the revamp follows a 36% boost in funding for TrainLink to $290 million for the next nine years.
Four new services are being added, three in the north-west, with some services combined and new stops added.
The revamp includes a new weekend Goulburn-Canberra service, a new Dubbo Airport stop and extending the Port Macquarie-Wauchope service to the Gold Coast and Brisbane.
Regional Transport Minister Jenny Aitchison says regional services had been “gutted” by previous governments and that they have to be restored.
“This initiative, based on direct feedback from communities is filling in the gaps in our regional coach network,” she says.
“These changes deliver savings of up to two-and-a-half hours; we’re making it easier for regional communities to choose public transport and leave the car behind.”
“With around 500,000 passenger journeys every year, it’s important that we take our passengers where they need to go, when they need to get there.”
NSW TrainLink Chief Executive Roger Weeks says the changes follow feedback from passengers, local operators and a state bus taskforce.
“Alongside the network review, we’ve overhauled our coach contracts, making wheelchair accessible coaches standard with better passenger amenities, like improved air conditioning and toilets, standard,” he says.
Click here for a factsheet listing all the changes.
TRAINLINK CHANGES
From July 1, 14 coach operators will run 49 routes across the coach network with 638 long-distance services each week (compared to the current 592 services across 45 routes).
The funding will improve routes and introduce new services; on some routes, passengers could save more than two hours in travel time.
Most of the TrainLink services will feature coaches with wheelchair accessibility, better seating and seatbelts, mobile phone charging points, onboard defibrillators and toilets.
The new routes will serve over 360 destinations across NSW and into Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and the ACT, the government says.
ROUTE DETAILS
A new Armidale–Port Macquarie return route with a train connection at Wauchope to Coffs Harbour, Grafton, Northern Rivers, Gold Coast and Brisbane.
The Port Macquarie-Wauchope service will take in Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Northern Rivers, Gold Coast and Brisbane (for the first time) with northbound and southbound connections.
A new Yass–Young coach route is to connect to trains at Yass, saving up to two hours on a Young–Sydney trip as well as for Griffith and Temora passengers travelling to Sydney or Canberra.
The Goulburn-Canberra day return service will run seven days for the first time;
A new Dubbo Airport stop on the Nyngan, Bourke and Broken Hill routes.
The Tamworth-Dubbo return service will increase to three times a week.
