WITH her ongoing campaign to see passenger rail return to Hamilton and Portland, Southern Grampians Shire councillor, Katrina Rainsford, has proposed an interim solution geared to offer proof-of-concept and is looking for community support.

Dr Rainsford said she has personally noticed the increased use of Ararat passenger rail services (which she has also used regularly) since the capping of daily ticket fees to $10 and also noted a concession of $5 a day was “an attractive alternative to another tank of fuel, dodging potholes and paying for car parking in Melbourne”.

The feasibility of a minimum twice-a-week Friday and Saturday subsidised Hamilton to Ararat bus that runs via Glenthompson is strong and would improve on the current Tuesday, Friday and Sunday services that take a considerable detour through Halls Gap (and add to the current bus services to Ballarat).

That circuitous and winding route takes well over two hours but an additional service going a more direct way instead and avoiding Grampians roads entirely would cut that time almost in half, and effectively take a similar route as the Portland to Ararat rail line, thus realistically assessing community interest for the future return of trains.

Syncronising with the Ararat train timetable could open up the possibility of a more convenient time-of-day to get to Melbourne - or return - rather than the current limitation of only early and late bus services between Hamilton and Ballarat.

The Spectator took a close look at the Friday timetables for Ararat to Melbourne - and return - and estimated a bus from Hamilton could leave at about 3.45pm to comfortably meet the 5.17pm Ararat train to Melbourne (getting in at 7.47pm).

The bus would return with passengers who had just arrived on that same train from Melbourne at 5.02pm to get them to Hamilton at about 6.30pm – that train has a departure time of 2.36pm from Melbourne and 4.04pm from Ballarat.

This return service could open up considerable possibilities for locals needing to get to medical appointments and other services on a weekday, instead of getting back at the unsociable time of 10.41pm, when the late bus from Ballarat arrives.

An additional bus service through Dunkeld could also be welcomed for further supporting Grampians tourism businesses; for example, it would be possible to bring people to town from Melbourne just after 6pm on a Friday evening.

Then, looking at Saturdays - Hamilton currently only has two daily services, early and late, heading to Melbourne, both via Ballarat.

An Ararat bus scheduled in the middle of the day could be useful, leaving Hamilton at approximately 12.20pm to meet another bus at Ararat at 1.48pm, getting into Melbourne via a change to train at Ballarat at the agreeable time of 4.48pm.

(Both the Friday and Saturday services to Ararat could also be seen as ideal for getting to an evening AFL match or theatre performance, provided you have a place to stay in Melbourne overnight; with a 9.14am service from Melbourne to get home through Ballarat with the existing bus the following morning, you won’t have to get up too early.)

The return service from Ararat on Saturday could take passengers arriving at 2.42pm (having left Melbourne at 12.14pm and Ballarat at 1.46pm) and get them back to Hamilton just after 4pm.

(It was noted the timing of the proposed Friday shuttle service would also open up the possibility - albeit secondarily - to substantially improve the timing of a return trip from Horsham via public transport.)

Both buses would also assist with the connection to the airport bus at Ballarat, with a Friday afternoon service especially useful for weekends away, enabling people to get to Melbourne Airport at 8pm, in just over four hours from Hamilton; a time when flights to a wide range of destinations both domestic and international fly soon after.

It would be possible - for example - to get from Hamilton to Brisbane on a Friday evening from a mid-afternoon departure and have an arrival well before midnight; so attending a family wedding in Queensland on a weekend could mean finishing work only a couple of hours early on the Friday and no expensive airport parking in addition to rising fuel costs.

In regard to expansion from the two aforementioned services, it would be possible to add an earlier bus on Friday at 9am with a return to Hamilton at about 11.45am; with the later return bus (6.30pm) discussed above giving people the opportunity to spend over four hours in the middle of the day in Ballarat and still getting home for dinner - all for a cost substantially less than roughly three-quarters of a tank of fuel.

Either of the two Friday services could also be incrementally added to other weekdays or in response to demand, and the Saturday service could also be duplicated on Sunday.

Importantly, all of this could also be expanded to service Portland too.

It should be noted that the proposal above differs from a recommendation in the March 2017 Grampians and Barwon South West Region Passenger Services Cost and Feasibility Study by John Hearsch Consulting Pty Ltd which asked for another middle-of-the-day bus service between Hamilton and Ballarat directly as an interim measure.

But with this idea, the distance to Ararat (108 kilometres) is about 40 per cent shorter (therefore costing less to run), leverages more of the fast train services, and still directs passengers through Ballarat.

Dr Rainsford said she and her family were keen public transport users and had discovered they were not alone in getting to Melbourne via Ararat.

“Many Southern Grampians travellers have discovered the joy of train travel via Ararat in recent years and often we meet locals at the platform who have also travelled there by car,” she said.

“A shuttle bus service can pool our resources, save time and money.

“We meet our family members at Ararat who may be having a farm break from Melbourne, fitting in a family visit between working overseas or interstate, or attending conferences and special events.

“Last week I could attend our Southern Grampians (Shire) Wednesday Council meeting and tour at Penshurst, next morning catch the 7.11 am train at Ararat costing $10 return, walk to the Municipal Association of Victoria Conference up Collins St and return in time for the Double Feature show at our HPAC on Friday.

“(All) with plenty of time to do computer work on the train.”

She said a bus service to Ararat should be seen as a stopgap measure as she made the point the train line continues on to the coast.

“Whilst this project is to investigate the feasibility of a Hamilton Ararat Shuttle Service, there is strong interest in the return of passenger rail through to Portland,” Dr Rainsford said.

“Eight Western Victorian Councils, including Southern Grampians and Glenelg, supported the … Feasibility Study, completing a report into the feasibility of returning passenger rail to Western Victoria.

“What has been lacking is a grass roots community campaign to put faces, stories and strategy to make it happen.”

With Ararat just over an hour away from Hamilton and its regular services using the V/Line VLocity trains capable of 160km/h and much of the journey rated at 130km/h, the opportunity to expand on major public transport connections substantially without major investment and also further gather data to support the return of rail, the idea would appear to have merit to investigate.

Dr Rainsford urged the community to support the idea and suggested either writing to The Spectator or contacting her at her street office, 97 Kennedy Street or via email at katrina.rainsford@gmail.com