The New England Rail Trail was pitched as one 103 kilometre ride from Armidale to Glen Innes. Six years on it is two projects moving at different speeds. Armidale Regional Council has a draft masterplan and environmental review on public exhibition until 27 October for its 67 kilometre section to Ben Lomond. Glen Innes Severn Council's 34 kilometre section is still at the investigation stage, after $8.7 million in bushfire recovery funding was withdrawn in November 2024.

What was promised

The business case prepared for both councils in December 2020 proposed a 103km rail trail between Armidale and Glen Innes at a cost of $19.8M on the Great Northern line, which it said has not seen trains operating for 31 years. It projected that the trail would attract 14,000 new overnight visitors and 15,000 new day visitors a year, spending more than $5.8 million annually at local businesses.

Those projections are for the whole trail, and only one of its two sections is moving.

Armidale's half: on exhibition now

Armidale Regional Council says it is responsible for the 67-kilometre section between Armidale and Ben Lomond. Councillors endorsed a draft masterplan and a Review of Environmental Factors for exhibition on 23 September 2026, and the council's page says the REF concludes that, subject to the recommended mitigation measures, the proposal is not expected to have a significant impact on the environment. Supporting studies cover biosecurity, heritage, site contamination and biodiversity.

A second exhibition covers how the finished trail would be run: draft terms of reference for an advisory committee that would have no role in construction matters and no authority to commit Council funds. Submissions on both close on Tuesday 27 October 2026.

What Armidale's own business case says

Armidale Regional Council's business case for its section, dated February 2024, puts the Armidale to Ben Lomond stages at 68.8 kilometres (the council's project page says 67) and their capital cost at $21.03 million, with annual maintenance of around $102,000. It projects 11,400 new overnight stays and 9,000 new day visits a year, spending more than $5.9 million annually, and 41 new jobs. Its benefit-cost ratio is 1.64 and its net present value $9.9 million, on the assumption that only half of visitors come from outside NSW and that only their spending counts as a state benefit.

Set beside the 2020 case for the whole route, two things stand out. The shorter section costs more than the whole trail was costed at in 2020: $21.03 million for 68.8 kilometres, against $19.8 million for 103. And it is projected to bring in about the same visitor spending, $5.9 million a year against $5.8 million, from two-thirds of the distance. The units also shift: the 2020 case counted overnight visitors, the 2024 case counts overnight stays, so the visitor figures are not directly comparable.

Glen Innes's half: the money went

On 6 November 2024 Glen Innes Severn Council said it had signed a licence to enter the rail corridor After almost 12 months of negotiations, so it could start the surveys the NSW Rail Trails Framework requires. It also said the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development was undertaking a project viability review of the $8.7 million project, as it was with other projects funded under the same program.

Nineteen days later the council announced the funding was gone. Its release said the $8.7 million came from the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund, meant to help communities recover from the 2019-20 bushfires, and that the department withdrew it Citing missed project deadlines. The council's position was that the delays were not its own: the corridor access it needed for the required environmental and site assessments took about 12 months to obtain from the state entity responsible. It said it had appealed to two NSW ministers for the funding to be reinstated.

The council's project page, read on 3 October 2026, describes the section as being in the planning and investigation stage. It says the council has committed $170,000 to the required assessments, and that once they are done it will review the findings, seek further feedback and consider funding opportunities. It names no construction funding.

Our view

The Armidale section is a real project with real documents, and its own business case, not the 2020 whole-route projection, is the one that applies to it. That case makes a positive return on its stated assumptions. But a section two-thirds the length, costing more than the whole trail did in 2020, is projected to earn the region about what the whole trail was, and the case does not explain the difference between the two sets of figures. That is the question worth putting to the council before 27 October.

What to watch

Submissions on Armidale's draft masterplan, environmental review and committee terms close on Tuesday 27 October 2026; the council then reports back. For Glen Innes, the results of its corridor investigations, and whether any construction funding is found.

Sources

  1. Armidale Regional Council, New England Rail Trail (Your Say project page, read 3 October 2026): the exhibition of the draft masterplan, Review of Environmental Factors and committee terms of reference, its 23 September endorsement and 27 October closing date, the REF's conclusion, and the 67 km and 103 km lengths.
  2. Glen Innes Severn Council, New England Rail Trail: Glen Innes to LGA boundary (Have Your Say project page, read 3 October 2026): the 34 km section, the planning and investigation stage, the $170,000 commitment and the next steps.
  3. Glen Innes Severn Council, New England Rail Trail update (media release, 6 November 2024, read 3 October 2026): the corridor licence after almost 12 months and the department's viability review.
  4. Glen Innes Severn Council, Funding for New England Rail Trail ripped from bushfire-affected Glen Innes community (media release, 25 November 2024, read 3 October 2026): the $8.7 million withdrawal, its source fund, the department's stated reason, the council's account of the delays and its appeal to ministers.
  5. Armidale Regional Council, New England Rail Trail Business Case, Armidale to Ben Lomond Section (PDF, 42 pages, February 2024, from the council's Your Say document library, read 3 October 2026): the 68.8 km length, $21.03 million capital cost, $102,000 annual maintenance, visitor, spending and jobs projections, and the 1.64 benefit-cost ratio and $9.9 million NPV with their assumption.
  6. New England Rail Trail Incorporated for Armidale Regional and Glen Innes Severn councils, New England Rail Trail Business Case, V11.0, December 2020 (PDF, 55 pages, hosted by RDA Northern Inland, read 3 October 2026): the 103 km, $19.8 million proposal and its visitor and spending projections.

How we did this

The 2020 figures are the business case's own projections for the whole route, not measurements. Glen Innes Severn Council's account of why its funding was withdrawn is the council's; the department's stated reason is as the council reported it, and we have not seen the department's letter. Armidale's 2024 business case is served only through the council's engagement platform; we downloaded it in a browser and give its figures without quotation. The comparison with the 2020 case is our own: the costs are in each year's dollars, not adjusted for inflation, and the visitor units differ, as the story says. We did not contact either council or the department. The “our view” paragraph is opinion based on the documents quoted.