We're Supporting Bikes on Regional Trains in NSW

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We're Supporting Bikes on Regional Trains in NSW

At Australian Cycle Tours, we're naturally enthusiastic about cycle tourism in Australia. As such, we're proud to support a new campaign that is calling on the NSW government to make it more accessible to bring bicycles onto regional trains in NSW.

Currently, bikes need to be boxed before taking them onto regional trains which is an obstacle for cycling adventurers. Also, there is a 20kg weight limit on bike transportation, which excludes the heavier e-bikes that are growing in popularity. Both of these practices deter cyclists from exploring regional NSW on multi-day bike holidays.

Beergarden of the Royal Hotel in Mendooran | <i>Michele Eckersley</i>

As the fleet of ageing trains in NSW is going to be replaced soon, this is a great opportunity to ensure that new trains can accommodate cyclists and e-bikes.

Trains with the capability to easily transport bikes are the norm in Europe and New Zealand and both travellers and the regional communities have benefited from this. You can view evidence of this on the Roll-On Bikes on All NSW Trains Facebook group.

Explore Europe in Summer | <i>Browse for lots of ideas</i>

Read the full press release from Bikes on Regional Trains below.

Red Packing Tape is Strangling Regional Cycle Tourism

NSW regional train service rules are blocking struggling NSW communities from taking advantage of one of the biggest opportunities in tourism in a generation.

Growing e-bike sales have been extraordinary with an effective doubling each year since 2017 yet, e-bikes are effectively locked out of regional NSW trains.

Passengers with ordinary bicycles are also severely inconvenienced.

By not providing roll-on bicycle carrying, NSW TrainLink is a big bottle-neck denying communities the benefits of potentially millions of dollars of tourism activity. NSW must leverage all channels to recover from Covid lockdowns and position for a lower carbon future.

Infrastructure Australia has identified opportunities for post-covid ‘regional renaissance’ and reduced car dependency. Train travel with a bicycle boosts tourism and helps ‘last mile’ journeys from the station to your final destination. It will play a significant part in regional revitalisation and reducing car dependency.

E-bikes are game changers for regional Australia. Ever increasing range, affordability, reliability and swiftness of re-charging means people can travel far greater distances with confidence and ease irrespective of hills. Using an e-bike to journey from village to town in a day is easily achieved by people of just about any age or fitness level.

Support our campaign to change the current policy and ensure the new regional train fleet will take roll-on roll-off bikes in sufficient numbers to make a big difference to rural communities, enabling travellers with bikes to journey around all NSW without being forced into a car.

View the full media release here.

If you'd like to get involved, visit the Bikes on Trains website for more information and join their Facebook group or Instagram page.