For all those people that have suffered train delays, broken down engines, dirty seats, filthy toilets, taps that don’t work and the general feel of being a second-class citizen in a third-class carriage, this one is for you.
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If you’re tired of having to catch a bus to Lithgow to change to an all-stations stopping train through the Blue Mountains, this one could be for you.
And if you’re tired of the Bathurst Bullet reaching the end of its journey at Bathurst and then take the same time it would take to continue onto Orange to run back to Lithgow for overnight stabling, then one day this might be for you.
The State Government will announce on Friday it is accelerating plans to replace the ageing fleet of XPT trains, some of which date back to the early 1980s.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance will allocate an extra $50 million to enable the procurement process for new XPTs to be brought forward to the first half of next year.
We won’t see any new trains then but it will bring them two years closer to running on the rails to Orange than had been previously announced.
These new trains will replace 60 XPT carriages that work main country lines in NSW including the daily Dubbo service through Orange.
The government is also working to replace more than 50 Xplorer trains which run across the state including the service which runs to Orange on the way to Broken Hill on Mondays and returns on Tuesdays each week.
Of course while new, more comfortable, quicker, more reliable and clean trains are what we want, it won’t be enough just to replace the existing XPT and Xplorer services.
The Orange Rail Action Group (ORAG) has proposed extending the Bathurst Bullet to Orange every day where it could be stabled and serviced, creating jobs for Orange – and helping restore the once significant rail industry in the Colour City.
ORAG chairman and Orange councillor Neil Jones said council had successfully obtained a connecting bus service between Bathurst and Orange but extending the train was vital.
That should start with a railway engineer and economist being employed to determine the business case and costing for what would be a significant improvement in public transport for the people of Orange.
Then it would really be time to get on board the next generation country express.