TARANA residents say a new Bathurst Bullet stop is set to give the village a boost.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mark Moyes, who owns the Tarana Hotel with his wife Karen, says it will make Tarana more accessible and bring more activity to the village, between Lithgow and Bathurst.
State Member for Bathurst Paul Toole announced last year that a second Bathurst Bullet, leaving later and returning earlier in the day, would soon be running daily between Bathurst and Sydney, stopping at Tarana.
The second Bullet wasn't due to start running until early 2020, but will now start before the end of the year after money was made available in the NSW Budget.
"We're on the railway station here and we would hope to get more business from it," Mr Moyes said.
"There will be more activity in the village generally.
"People will be able to come from Bathurst and we think we'll get people from outside the area catching the train."
READ ALSO:
He said the new service will also be convenient for Tarana locals wanting to travel to Sydney.
Mr Moyes said those in the village had been talking about the start of the second Bullet.
"We're in the pub, so we see just about everybody, and there's been quite a lot of discussion about it," he said.
"People are quite upbeat about it. Just last night, people were talking about it."
Tarana Valley Community Group president Richard Rollo said the group welcomed the second Bullet and its Tarana stop.
"Local support for stopping the Bullet at Tarana is strong, as it provides residents of the Tarana Valley as well as approximately 5500 residents of Oberon Council with closer access to a station," he said.
"Oberon mayor Kathy Sajowitz, at a community meeting in Tarana earlier this year, said that there was a possibility of a bus link from Oberon to Tarana.
"Oberon is currently serviced by a bus to Mount Victoria, 60 kilometres and one hour away, but Tarana is less than half that."
Mr Rollo said the group would like to see the first Bullet also stopping at Tarana.
"Why just one? The more options available for travellers the better," he said.
"Arriving at Central after 11am and leaving to return at 3pm [by using the second Bullet] doesn't leave much time in the city."
Long-time Tarana resident Monika Perry said she regularly visits her sick mother in a Sydney hospital "and it's impossible for me to get there and back by public transport in a day".
"Having both Bathurst Bullet train services stop in Tarana would make a world of difference to my life," she said.
The first Bathurst Bullet started running in 2012 after years of lobbying for a daily return service to Sydney.