THE second Bathurst Bullet has only recently hit the tracks but Rail Action Bathurst chairman John Hollis is already looking ahead to the day when a third service links to the state capital.
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With the seventh anniversary of the inaugural trip for the first Bathurst Bullet service between Bathurst and Sydney having passed recently, Mr Hollis has been looking back - and forward.
The first Bullet pulled out of the Keppel Street station on October 21, 2012 to a rousing reception from locals pleased to get a daily limited-stops service to Sydney.
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The second Bullet, which leaves later in the morning and returns earlier in the evening during weekdays, started running in mid-September this year.
Mr Hollis said the next step - and he acknowledges it would likely be some time in the future - would be a third Bathurst Bullet that returns to Sydney, rather than Bathurst, in the evening.
"Maybe we could look at a Bullet service that comes out of Sydney in the morning," he said. "Maybe we could have that focus."
Mr Hollis said the success of the first Bullet and the establishment of the second had justified Rail Action Bathurst's efforts over many years.
"I used the second Bullet to and from Sydney recently and I was very impressed by the patronage," he said.
"The train was quite full - particularly on the return journey.
"Bathurst is obviously a significant regional centre and it is justified being included in the city rail system."
He said the decision for Rail Action Bathurst to continue to meet regularly even after the group achieved its goal of getting a daily return service to Sydney had led to the subsequent establishment of the second Bullet.
"We saw the need to keep the group going," he said.
Mr Hollis said Rail Action Bathurst's focus now was the development of the Bathurst rail precinct and, in particular, "the need for a significant improvement for the coach and bus interchange area" at the railway station.
"It needs to provide better weather protection and better facilities for patrons to get on and off buses and coaches," he said.
"It needs to be improved in consideration of the whole Keppel Street precinct."