SO often, the simplest ideas are the most effective.
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In the eight years since Paul Toole won the state seat of Bathurst for the Nationals, few decisions he has taken have proven more successful than the introduction of the Bathurst Bullet daily rail service.
Mr Toole had promised a return daily rail service between Bathurst and Sydney as part of his election pitch, even after the previous Labor Government had told this city and its residents for 12 years that such a service was neither viable nor needed.
Proving them wrong must have made the success of the Bullet even sweeter for Mr Toole and the hard-working Rail Action Bathurst group that had lobbied for so long to make the service a reality.
Then, with another election looming earlier this year, Mr Toole and the government decided to double down on the success of the Bathurst Bullet by promising a second daily service between here in Sydney.
The new service was to leave Bathurst earlier and arrive home earlier than the existing service, offering much friendlier hours for passengers who did not need a full day in Sydney.
Again, it has proved a masterstroke.
Transport for NSW figures show 619 people tapped on at the Bathurst Railway Station to board the new Bullet between September 16 and 30 and 422 people tapped off at Bathurst from the new Bullet during the same period.
At Rydal and Tarana village stations, which are stops for the second Bullet and which have also been added to the original Bullet's timetable, 44 people tapped on to board the second Bullet between September 16 and 30. And the figures show 32 people tapped off from the second Bullet at Tarana and Rydal during the same period.
Transport for NSW is "pleased with the response"; Mr Toole and the state government must be delighted.
At a time when the state government is coming under real pressure to deliver for communities across regional NSW, particularly with regard to water security, any small victories will be welcomed with open arms.
The two new rail services between Bathurst and Sydney have not been big-ticket items for the government and they will not be major game-changers with regard to the region's fortunes.
But they are making life just a little easier and more convenient for many Bathurst people, and that's a small victory worth celebrating.