The official opening of the Casino to Bentley stage of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail was held at the Old Casino Station precinct on Saturday 23 March 2024.
The event was well attended by the local community, as well as many visitors from the nearby district and beyond, including a significant contingent of Queenslanders. RTA was represented by John O’Brien, Kathy Furney, Sam Reich and Stephen Brown, although several other RTA shirts could also be seen in the crowd.
At 9.30am, an entertaining display by a Japanese drum band from Byron Bay woke up the crowd. Casino mayor, and rail trail supporter Robert Mustow, then set the scene, followed by Federal member for Page, and long-time rail trail supporter, Kevin Hogan.
The crowd also heard from the state member for Lismore, Janelle Saffin, and the general manager of RVC, Vaughan MacDonald, followed by short talks from John O’Brien from RTA, Tim Coen from RT4NSW, and Pat Grier from the NRRT supporters’ group.
The ribbon was cut at 11am by the mayor, accompanied by the Council officials and the politicians. The crowd was then led out onto the rail trail by four of the “Cycling Without Age” trishaws and their passengers, with refreshments provided at several locations along the 13km trail to Bentley.
RTA volunteers and NRRT supporters group manned an information stand at the event, providing brochures, information, and advice to people in attendance. There were lots of smiles and colourful shirts among the large crowd of trail users as they walked, talked and rode on this new asset for the region.
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Register for news updatesIT’S FREE so come along on Monday 18 November and join Camperdown-Timboon Rail Trail and Heytesbury District Landcare ...
The 2024 Rail Trail Conference brought together 110 delegates (RTA’s biggest conference yet!) in Melbourne to lear...
You are looking longingly at one of Australia’s longer rail trails and dreaming of a multi-day ride with local meals a...
In the Spring 2024 edition of Connections, Jeff Nolan, RTA Southeast Queensland Representative, explores the developme...
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One comment on “Casino to Bentley stage of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail officially opened”
Rode this section on Easter Thursday. Congrats to the designers and constructors for a first class job!
Only 27kms return, but it augers well for the extension of this section on to Lismore, hopefully later this year or 2025.
As the photos show, it's a smooth gravelly surface, with only the slightest of inclines.
The short, steep climb over the tunnel gives those fortunate enough to be riding an e-bike the opportunity to release the full power of their machines!