Border Rail Action Group chairman Bill Traill was not impressed with what he called the “comi-tragic debate” last month about the possibility of an old Melbourne train being located at the Wodonga location.

Cr Kat Bennett welcomed a suggestion that one of 134 W-Class trams being given away by the Victorian government should be located at Junction Place.

But Mr Traill had bigger ideas, saying rail was important to the economy and social fabric of the Border.

“How much better would the movement of residents and visitors be if a major transport hub was established in each city which included such facilities as a taxi rank, provision for local border and interstate bus services, shuttles to border rail stations and the airport and a tourist information centre?” he said.

Albury and Wodonga do not have public transport between their rail stations and each CBD, leaving commuters to find their own way.

Mr Traill said BRAG approached Wodonga Council and Places Victoria with the idea three years ago, but was turned down.

“It is however not too late for both bodies to grasp the opportunity to return the still significant amounts of unalienated land in the place to its original transport function,” he said.

“Such a facility would tick every box as a contributor to the local economy and the tourist trade in particular.

“Far better to have a highly-functional living transport museum than one irrelevantly mired in the past as suggested in the contaminated recent debate.”

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