Now's not the time to talk about changing Bathurst Bullet services, Rail Action chair says

That's the very clear message from Rail Action Bathurst - the group that lobbied for years for a daily return train service to Sydney - amid continuing campaigning for the Bullets to start their journey each day in Orange.

Long-time Rail Action Bathurst chairman John Hollis has emphasised that he is not trying to block Orange from getting an improved passenger rail service.

Rather, he says the best time to discuss a change to rail in this region would be when the current Endeavour trains used for the Bathurst Bullets are replaced.

"When that happens [the replacement], you'll have to revamp all the timetables and it also allows you, because you've got more rolling stock, greater flexibility," Mr Hollis said.

"The fact that Orange are still campaigning for the Bullet to go up there, it's really not a very strategic focus."

Mr Hollis' comments come after a Central West Rail Action Summit was held in Bathurst in early March, attended by members of the Orange Rail Action Group and Upper House MP Sam Farraway.

One of the messages at that summit from speaker Dr Michelle Zeibots, a transport planner and a senior lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney, was that those who hope to see services improved on the Main Western line through the Blue Mountains, Bathurst and Orange need to get organised and get talking.

Mr Farraway, meanwhile, told those at the summit that the replacement of the regional fleet would mean "everything is up for negotiation".

"We do need to be looking at what's good for Lithgow, good for Bathurst, good for Orange, good for everyone in between," he said.

"And if you want to get the attention of a politician, if you want to make the bureaucrats stand up and listen, you need a vision."

Member for Orange Phil Donato has previously argued that it just "made sense" for the Bathurst Bullet to start and finish its journey in his city.

"It could be stabled overnight here in Orange and allow passengers and the wider community, those who wish to travel to Sydney for business, for health and personal reasons to commence their journey at a reasonable time and then get back at night," he told the Central Western Daily in March 2023.

"At the moment you have an XPT that takes five hours to get to Sydney and passes through at 4pm.

"We also have a bus that gets you to Bathurst for the Bullet in the early hours of the morning. I've done it. My family has done it. It's not a user-friendly experience.

"We are calling for a direct passenger rail service. This is something the community overwhelmingly supports. The government must commit to this service."

SPEAKING this week, Rail Action Bathurst's Mr Hollis said potential future shuttle services could transform travel in this region.

"With the existing Endeavours, why just throw them on the scrapheap [when they are replaced]?" he asked.

"They would still have useful life in them.

"They could be renovated and, from an engineering perspective, overhauled, and they could be used as shuttle trains.

"For example, you could shuttle Parkes to Lithgow and match in with an electric train there. Or Dubbo to Lithgow.

"Or you might get a shuttle train that comes down from Dubbo into Bathurst.

"There's a whole diversity of possibilities. That's where I see there's a good use of the existing Endeavour trains."

Mr Hollis said the patronage for the existing Bullets is increasing "bit by bit and there are quite significant numbers that use it both ways, but particularly on the return journey".

"There are a lot of Blue Mountains people who utilise the train, so we don't want to overcrowd it unnecessarily so that the people of the Central West are standing."

The other aspect, he said, is that any revitalisation of passenger services in the Central West will require a close association with Transport for NSW to "understand what protocols they have to go through in order to implement the suggested services we might have".

"Also, maybe we've got to do a survey throughout all our communities here in the Central West and see what the communities need and what they'd like to see in our revitalised train services," he said.

Mr Hollis said he is not certain of when, specifically, the Bathurst Bullet's Endeavour trains will be replaced, but that will be the time "to rethink and revise what we've got [in terms of train services in the region]".

"It doesn't mean to say you can't have the vision, but we have to strategically plan," he said.

The Western Advocate contacted Transport for NSW to ask whether there was a timeline for a replacement of the Endeavour trains that are used for the Bathurst Bullets as part of the overall replacement of the regional fleet.

Transport for NSW did not specifically mention the Bathurst Bullets in its reply.

"Momentum Trains is preparing for completion works on the first train of the new regional fleet, which is now at the Mindyarra Maintenance Centre in Dubbo and going through the assurance phase prior to commencement of testing," a spokesperson said.

"The current fleet remains fit for purpose until the new trains are ready for passenger service."