With all the hype about the Tweed Rail Trail recently, I wonder if now is the right time to think about our railway infrastructure, before it’s too late.
Since we lost the trains on our tracks 19 years ago, the population of Byron Shire has risen by 20 per cent and tourism has increased by 53 per cent. Ewingsdale Road and Bayshore Drive are already a nightmare, and they are about to get worse with the 300 new homes being built at West Byron and the new TAFE campus on Bayshore Drive, all coming off the same roundabout.
Restoring the line from Byron to Mullum would be a great start. Extending it to Billinudgel would give the population of 7,000 people at Ocean Shores access. Extending a little further to Yelgun which is 500m from North Byron Parklands, could elevate the issues with the festivals. I’ve had a chat with a railway engineer who has said it would cost about $12m to repair the line from Byron to Mullum and another $6m to Yelgun, while the Tweed section of the rail tail cost $14m.
I recently spoke to Mayor Michael Lyon, who said the rail trail section north of Mullum was a done deal. This is a massive mistake. Losing this valuable infrastructure with a growing population is myopic.
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. 
