It’s one of New South Wales' oldest rail trail proposals. Despite recent funding setbacks, new legislation and renewed enthusiasm could help the Goulburn-Crookwell Rail Trail (GCRT) finally come to life.
There is roughly 56km of disused railway situated between Goulburn and Crookwell, approximately 2 hours south of Sydney.
The railway corridor runs across the Goulburn Mulwaree Council and Upper Lachlan shires, cutting through rich grazing country and bushland, and crossing a unique steel railway bridge over the Wollondilly River.
The railway line terminates in the scenic Southern Tablelands at the heritage listed Crookwell railway station, which will celebrate its 120th anniversary this year.
The Goulburn-Crookwell Rail Trail Inc group, formed in 2014, advocates for the railway line to be transformed into a path for the public to enjoy. The group’s chair is Goulburn Mulwaree Councillor Bob Kirk, who told us that the rail trail is very well placed to cater to a large section of the state population.
“Goulburn and Crookwell are conveniently accessible from all directions via highway/state roads and is on the main southern railway line,” Bob told Bicycle Network, “both town centres have very early Australian pastoral history, with Goulburn being Australia’s first inland city”.
The NSW Government has been increasing its appetite for transforming disused railways into rail trails, which have proven to be key tourism assets in other states.
In Victoria, over 1100km of decommissioned railway lines have been converted to rail trails. The Murray-to-Mountains Rail Trail now accommodates over 300,000 visitors each year and generates over $1 million for local economies.
Since 2015, two rail trail projects have been piloted across New South Wales to scope their viability. One of these was the Tumbarumba to Rosewood Rail Trail, now a permanent facility. A review of the pilot scheme released this year has outlined very favourable results, and has helped build a good case for further delivery of rail trails across the state.
A feasibility study for the GCRT, prepared in 2014, found ‘significant benefits to the towns in which it starts and finishes and the people who may use it’. At the time of preparation was estimated to generate between $2.1−3.4 million year in local economic benefits, depending on the level of marketing.
However, there were setbacks in July when Upper Lachlan Shire withdrew local support from the GCRT project.
There are some silver linings at the state level. The new Transport Administration Amendment (Rail Trails) Bill 2022 will cut a lot red tape with building rail trails across the state. The recently released NSW Government Rail Trails Framework will also guide rail trail planning and development by setting out proposal and approval processes, the criteria for determining the suitability of new rail trails. These changes are important stepping-stones for the state to kickstart its regional delivery of rail trails.
While there are short-term challenges, there are opportunities that could lead to long term benefits for budding bike riders in New South Wales.
“The very favourable results from the review of the rail trail pilot projects guided the development of the Rail Trails Framework document, which in turn has provided direction and an opportunity for projects such as ours to prepare to progress,” says Bob Kirk, “we now need a Government funding scheme to get these good ideas underway.”