SPECIALIST medical services could soon be more accessible to villages around Inverell Shire.

If a proposal put forward by the NSW Ministry of Transport is successful the Tuesday Inverell to Tamworth Countrylink route will provide a regular and reliable means of transport for the disadvantaged, including youth, older people and people with disabilities.

The new bus route would start at Warialda Rail and travel to Armidale via Delungra, Inverell, Gilgai, Tingha, Bundarra and to Uralla to connect with the XPT Explorer train to Sydney.

The bus would then transport passengers to Armidale CBD and hospital and return in the afternoon to Uralla to meet the XPT train and from there deliver passengers back along the route to Warialda.

Independent Member for Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay said he had been advised by the Ministry of Transport that Countrylink was yet to agree to the change, but if it was made it would be permanent.

He said Tuesday had been the ideal choice for the reversed route because it was a low patronage day and a day when many specialised medical practitioners were available for appointments in Armidale.

Mr Torbay said the Countrylink partnership would be ideal because the coaches had toilets and wheelchair access and the company already had a subsidy fare scheme in place – $2.50 for pensioners.

He said he would welcome submissions about any of the Ministry's plans.

"Transport has become a major issue for residents of outlying areas, who needed transportation to doctors, health services, shopping, banking and Centrelink," Mr Torbay said.

"I would welcome feedback from the community about what they think of any proposals."

The proposal was made possible through the Ministry's regional transport trials and $100,000 on-recurrent funds to fund innovative transport initiatives for the area.

The recently elected Inverell Transport Working Group will work on more proposals for outlying communities such as Ashford Yetman, Bukulla, Delungra, Tingha and Nullamanna to be submitted for the trials.

If the proposals are successful, trials will then be conducted to discover the level of patronage on each transport service, and the regular timetable would be altered to ensure services were not being wasted.

Both Mr Torbay and the Inverell Transport Working Group would like submissions from the public about what the Shire needed in the way of better access to transport.

© 2006 Inverell Times

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