Newsroom

18 September 2025
Fresh push for NE Rail Trail funds

Bicycle Network has thrown its support behind an extension of Tasmania’s North East Rail Trail as a rail group admits it’s unlikely to get trains running again on the line.

Dorset Council has launched a fresh bid for a funding top-up for the trail as the ten-year delay to the project has eroded the value of its initial 2015 grant.

Bicycle Network has supported the council’s call this week in a letter to Bass MP, Jess Teesdale, and Tasmanian ALP senators.

The funding push comes as the Launceston & North East Railway admits on its Facebook page that it’s unlikely to get trains running again on its section of line.

A post on 6 September states, “From time to time someone will ask when we are getting trains running again. Sadly, the answer is, for mostly financial reasons, probably never.”

The post includes a letter from an English volunteer heritage train group which details the millions of pounds its costs every year to keep its 12-mile service running.

The prohibitive cost of running a heritage rail service is one reason why converting the disused rail line to a trail would be a more effective use of the land for the widest benefit.

Other rail trails incorporate the history of train services as part the trail’s attractions. The L&NER could keep restoring engines and carriages to become an undercover feature along the trail, where people could stop to explore rail history and a have a lunch break.

Help with the funding push

If you can see yourself riding along an extended Lilydale Falls to Billcock Hill trail then let the decision makers know!

Bass MP Jess Teesdale is available at:

For more information on the rail trail extension, Dorset Council has a webpage that includes past reports and the current business case for pressing ahead with the project: https://www.dorset.tas.gov.au/north-east-rail-trail-stage-3  

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