Riverland bus trip should be rail

AS I have done on other occasions,

I recently contemplated a non-automobile ‘day trip’ to Renmark.

To my disgust, I found that spending the day in your lovely region would be a two-night and three-day exercise.

The only coach line provider advised me that only one service per day is offered between Adelaide and the Riverland towns.

This means I would have had to leave Adelaide in the late afternoon, spend the night in a motel or hotel, enjoy my day in the Riverland, before spending another night in a motel and returning to Adelaide the next morning.

Previously, I could leave Adelaide in the morning, spend a few hours in Renmark and return home to Adelaide that evening.

Since the coach service has reduced its services to your region it caused me to reminisce on some lovely train journeys I have had.

I am a huge fan of rail travel, both for tourism and commercial purposes. A rail service between Adelaide and the Riverland would have several important benefits I outline below.

Firstly, it would potentially reduce the road toll by reducing the number of trucks on the Sturt Highway and other transportation routes.

Secondly, rail is an environmentally friendly means of transport, leaving minimal impact on our environment in both a physical and pollution sense.

Thirdly, a rail service would increase ease of access to regional centres for tourists. With a reduction in coach services, a rail service would ‘open up’ the Riverland to a group that often is without access to motor vehicles.

Last, but by no means least, introducing a rail service to the Riverland would potentially create local jobs in the Riverland.

It would require a loading and unloading depot at, say, Waikerie. This would create jobs for Riverland lads and lasses to load and unload primary produce such as grapes and fruit.

Don’t let our regional centres disappear into the abyss.

EDWARD WILLIAMSON
Adelaide