Gersch: Overland guarantee welcome

Hindmarsh Shire Council has welcomed a State Government three-year financial commitment to maintain The Overland interstate rail service.

Mayor Rob Gersch said the council believed continuation of the service, which had been far from secure until last week, would help meet community socio-economic needs in the shire.

“We are very excited by the announcement of continued funding for this important service,” he said.

“Many of our residents use this service to travel to appointments and visit family in Melbourne and Adelaide.”

Victorian Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll announced last week the State Government would enter into a new three-year agreement to fund the historic passenger-rail service, in operation since 1887.

The twice-weekly Adelaide-melbourne service includes stops in Nhill, Dimboola, Horsham, Stawell and Ararat.

Had the government followed a Southern Australian government example and walked away from funding the train, the Wimmera and southern Mallee would have been left without passenger-rail services.

Many elderly or people with disabilities unable or unwilling to travel to Melbourne or Adelaide by bus and without other road-travel options, would have been stranded.

Fresh potential

Cr Gersch said apart from regional residents simply being able to continue to travel comfortably on public transport, the retention of the service presented fresh regional-visitor potential.

“We see opportunity for increased visitors to our shire now that overseas travel has been ruled out in the immediate future,” he said.

“Hindmarsh has a lot of natural attractions and we will be encouraging people from Melbourne and Adelaide to hop on the train and visit our beautiful part of Victoria.”

Cr Gersch congratulated and thanked people who had worked hard supporting and advocating to keep the service running.

“I particularly thank community members who have worked tirelessly on this project,” he said.

The three-year commitment has provided passenger-rail advocates across the region a chance to regroup in their long-term campaign to resurrect domestic rail services west of Ararat.

The Overland, while providing an alternative option for far western Victorians, remains a ‘tourism experience’ train.

Many lobbyists, while supportive of the train, argue it falls well short of offering an appropriate day-to-day public-transport service.

A popular call is for the government to pave the way for a regular Wimmera return-sprinter service that could connect to Ararat, the furthest west extension of V-line passenger-rail services from Melbourne.

The Overland, running on a national and different rail gauge to V-line trains, diverts to Geelong’s North Shore before reaching Melbourne.