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The Rail Trail through Glen Innes has taken a step forward. At a public meeting in the Services Club, an advisory group of seven people was formed to work out the best way of making the project happen. The consensus was that the trail was attractive and that state public money was available (though Mayor Steve Toms warned that there was some urgency because funding of this kind tended to come and go). The plan is to turn the disused railway between Armidale and Wallangarra into a trail for walkers, cyclists and horse riders, though whether all those groups could be accommodated might depend on the cost of adapting the 210 kilometers of line. Should bridges be maintained or repaired at some cost, for example, or should the trail by-pass them? One of the main barriers to the trail was legal: under New South Wales law, lines have to be formally closed and the line through Glen hasn’t been, even though it has not been used for decades. Peter Teschner, Manager for Tourism and Events in Glen Innes, said that Victoria had 36 trails compared with only ten in NSW. Germany has 613. New Zealand was cited as a country where these projects are particularly well done and where they draw in lots of money from tourists from all over the world. New England Rail Trail steering committee chairman David Mills said that in Victoria, visitors to trails generate $244 a day. The line through Glen Innes was a particularly fine asset, he felt, because of its amazing history, with bridges along the way, like that over the Severn, which were marvels of engineering. The ultimate aim could be to attract foreign tourists who come to the Gold Coast but who then would make a weekend detour and take the trail – and spend some money. Some attractions are already there: Tenterfield Railway Station has been turned into a museum with a lot of rolling stock and memorabilia. The line goes past Ben Lomond which at 4,473 feet above sea level is the highest railway station in Australia and spectacular. The consensus of the meeting was that the project should be pursued but with safeguards for farmers and guarantees that the line couldn’t be sold off or redeveloped for other purposes.

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