On Tuesday, the first passengers on a new coach service linking Inverell, Tingha, Bundarra and Yarrowyck, made the inaugural trip to Armidale.

For many years the community has wanted a more direct connection because until now it was by a long bus journey of more than three and a half hours to Tamworth.

On the new service passengers are on the bus for about two hours and join the train at Armidale.

Campaigner of the bus service, Inverell resident Betty Moore was one of the first passengers.

“It was very good coming over and coming back,” Mrs Moore said.

“I was the only passenger who just stayed in Armidale for the day, the others caught the train.

“But as time goes on, I am sure more people will use this service just to spend the day in the town.

“There is also a connection from the Armidale bus service to get into town which is great.

“People can go into town, to the university, to the hospital and various other places they made need to go.

“It is great that this has actually started now.”

When the coach arrived in Armidale on Tuesday morning, members of the Friends of the Northern Railway (FONR) were there to greet the passengers.

FONR spokesman Don Martin said he was still a little disappointed it took two hours to travel between Inverell and Armidale.

“This means that Inverell passengers leave a little earlier than present and arrive home a little later,” he said.

“Nevertheless we are confident the benefits of making the transfer between coach and train at Armidale, instead of Tamworth, will outweigh the slightly longer overall journey time.”

Mr Martin said passengers on the new coach would join the Xplorer train at 8.45am and later in the evening returning passengers will meet the coach at 6.30pm to go back to Inverell.

“It means they can enjoy a breakfast snack on the train and those coming back can have an evening meal,” he said.

“On the old service passengers would have been sitting on the bus, with no refreshments” Mr Martin said.

Mr Martin said the group was grateful for the continuing efforts of Northern Tablelands MP Richard Torbay in negotiating for this service, which they hope will eventually become a daily, rather than weekly.

“Not only do the passengers from Inverell and intervening centres get a more desirable service, but the patronage figures for the train into and out of Armidale will also benefit,” Mr Martin said.

The bus service leaves Inverell for Armidale each Tuesday at 6.30am from the Tourist Information Centre.