Travellers will no longer have to dodge kangaroos on the roads for seven hours straight to visit Sydney on a weekday, now that Griffith has its own mid-week train service.
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The first Griffith to Sydney train pulled up at the station in the early hours of Thursday morning to the delight of residents who have spent years lobbying for a mid-week service.
One of them was Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association president Peter Knox, who has spent decades angrily railing against the lack of train services in Griffith.
He's seen train services gradually stripped away over the years, and he's been lobbying loudly for their return.
"It should never have been taken away in the first place," Mr Knox said.
However he said he's elated to see another mid-week train service return to Griffith, and he said it had only been made possible by the combined lobbying efforts of the community.
"I want to thank Bill Alexander for his petition and all the other people who helped us," he said.
"This is great for Griffith; it's going to be a two-way tourism bonanza."
NSW Trainlink acting chief executive Pete Allaway said the new mid-week service had come about in response to community feedback.
"This is what the community asked for, and we are fanatical about supporting regional communities," Mr Allaway said.
"We'll do whatever we can for regional communities to keep them interconnected."
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Griffith City Council mayor John Dal Broi has also been lobbying for a mid-week train service, and he said the community's patience had paid off.
"It's been a long battle, but we've kept at it and finally been successful," Cr Dal Broi said.
"It shows that if you keep at it and keep lobbying government departments you'll eventually get there, so this is a good result for the community."
The mid-week services also stops at other stations across the Riverina including Leeton, Narrandera, Coolamon, Junee, Cootamundra, Harden and Yass.
The mid-week Griffith to Sydney train leaves at 7.25am on Thursday from Griffith Station and the Sydney to Griffith train leaves at 12.01pm on Wednesday from Sydney Central Station.
Travelers can visit transportnsw.info/regional or call 13 22 23 for more information about train services.
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