BATHURST CPSA and the Bathurst community scored a big win on 21 October 2012 when the first Bathurst Bullet left Bathurst Station for Sydney Central Railway. It was the start of a daily Bathurst to Sydney return service. The new service has proved invaluable for Bathurst and for surrounding communities in Blayney, Orange and Cowra.
At the time the Bathurst Bullet was hailed as a great starting point for a rail revival in country New South Wales and this is now taking shape. THE VOICE recently covered the success of the Griffith CPSA and the Griffith community in securing a second weekly service to Sydney, but the story does not end there.
Bathurst has continued to lobby and now a second Bathurst Bullet has been announced. This is great news and again a great win!
Bullet 2 will start in 2020. NSW TrainLink is busily working out the detail concerning the rolling stock, drivers and guards and the timetabling of this additional service. Obviously Bullet 2 will be jostling for space with all the other train services operating on the Sydney metropolitan network.
The plan is that Bullet 2 will leave Bathurst at around 7.30 in the morning and leave Sydney Central Railway at around 3.00 in the afternoon to get back at 7.00 at night. Bullet 1 leaves Bathurst at 5.46 in the morning and gets back at 9.32 at night, so the additional Bullet 2 service gives passengers more options.
Apart from the great news for the people of Bathurst, Blayney, Orange, Cowra and surrounding areas, what this story also demonstrates is that where communities get together, great things can be achieved.
The advent of the Bullet highlighted to the NSW Government and NSW TrainLink how important connectivity is for the Western Region and indeed for all rural regions in NSW. Peter Allaway, the manager of NSW TrainLink, who has been a guest speaker at two recent CPSA Annual Conferences, has been given the task of establishing rail services throughout NSW with the aim of ensuring even the smallest of communities have access to major centres for health, business and family events.
The two Bullets mean that the Western Region Communities will not have to do battle with congested city traffic, high cost parking and will be able to enjoy low-cost travel when visiting Sydney.
