THE NSW Government has no plans to cut NSW Trains’ Xplorer rail and bus services, formerly known as CountryLink, to and from Armidale and other parts of the Northern Tablelands.
Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall received the assurance from Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian.
Mr Marshall said his letter and request for an assurance was prompted by concerns raised with him by members of the community who had heard that regional rail services were on the government radar for cuts.
“There is a history of governments eyeing off our rail services and I can understand why so many people were feeling nervous about it,” he said.
“The community and my predecessor staged a massive battle and won it in 2003 when the former Labor government planned to cut the service to Armidale.”
Mr Marshall said communities across the Northern Tablelands depended on the daily Xplorer return rail service to Sydney.
They also relied on the connecting bus services from Tenterfield via Glen Innes and from Inverell to Armidale as reliable public transport in the region.
