The first section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail opened yesterday on 1 March, a decade after the idea was first floated, and almost two decades after the last train plied the line. Tweed Council has rapidly transformed the 24km stretch of derelict rail corridor between Murwillumbah and Crabbes Creek into a bike and walking trail, allowing access once again to this public space.
The trail is proving popular even before it opens. Tweed Council has been spraying social media with requests for riders and walkers to stay off the trail while the finishing touches are applied.
With the Tweed section now complete, Northern Rivers Rail Trail Supporters, the group who have campaigned for a decade for the old Murwillumbah to Casino line to become a trail, said they’re not slackening off. Their vision of a trail spanning the 130km corridor is not yet realised.
But they’re buoyed with the recent announcement of a state government grant of $481,115 to develop the business case for the rail trail in the mid-section of the corridor – 75km between Crabbes Creek and Lismore that is yet to be funded. The rail trail group partnered with the Northern Rivers Joint Organisation (comprising the seven Northern Rivers councils) to apply for the grant, the aim being to establish a sound basis for councils to make decisions about their sections of the corridor.
Richmond Valley Council aim to complete their section of railtrail between Casino and Bentley by year’s end. Lismore Council is pushing ahead with Bentley to Lismore City – also fully-funded.
Lismore to Crabbes Creek is the missing middle and most of this unfunded section of corridor is in Byron Shire. Byron Council has historically been the hold-out, spurning the idea of a railtrail the state government is eager to build, preferring instead an illusory train service, one unlikely to be delivered because no-one will finance it.
Byron Council finally on board?
But change is afoot. Byron Council has resolved to push forward and develop the rail-trail between Crabbes Creek and Mullum. Mayor Michael Lyon said, ‘I’m doing what I think is appropriate to advance the railtrail now that Tweed has done it’.
Byron Council also hopes to access funding for the Mullum to Bruns cycleway – a track along the rail corridor branching off at Synotts Lane towards Brunswick Heads.
But Byron Council is not giving up on the train just yet. The mayor is talking to the state government and thinks it might be possible for light rail to operate between Mullum and Byron. Apparently, building out the corridor with ‘affordable housing’ might boost the business case for the train.
Completing the railtrail will be expensive, but there are solid funding pathways. Byron’s section alone will cost $40 million, big numbers but a small fraction of what re-establishing a train service would cost.
Byron Council rightfully talks about prioritising public transport. Buses already operate between Mullum and Byron and I think if they were serious, they’d be loudly advocating for enhanced bus services rather than chasing a mythical train. Who seriously thinks duplicating a 20km bus route with 15km of light rail and calling it ‘reactivating the rail corridor’ is a good idea?
The four councillors I spoke to for this story presented a range of perspectives so disparate they were almost impossible to synthesise. Every mention of the train was couched in the vaguest possible terms, or abruptly dismissed as ‘dreaming’. The raitrail group have a clear vision though, and rafts of spreadsheets and detailed costings.
Byron might dither but the railtrail is open in the Tweed. I’ve made a few stealth runs in recent months and can assure you the ride is a joy.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
