About a dozen local businesses and entrepreneurs attended a Lismore City Council Business Education Workshop at Oakes Oval this morning to learn about the future opportunities for the anticipated Northern Rivers Rail Trail.

The Northern Rivers Rail Trail is converting the disused railway line (abandoned in 2004) into a 132 km mostly gravel trail, to attract thousands of visitors each year to explore our region. It is being delivered across four stages, the trail runs from Tweed through Mullumbimby and Lismore to Casino.

The construction of the third section by Lismore City Council from Lismore to Bentley (16.3 km) is now underway, with the second section from Bentley to Casino (13.4 km) being delivered by Richmond Valley Council due to open in just under three weeks, March 23 and 24.

Lismore City Council (LCC) has so far removed the old railway railings and sleepers and says it has constructed 3km of the third section and is on track to deliver the Lismore section towards the end of 2024.

(The Lismore to Bentley Rail Trail map. Lismore City Council)

The hope is that the Rail Trail will be a safe and fun way for locals and visitors alike to explore and connect with the natural beauty of the Northern Rivers environment and create exciting growth opportunities for new and existing businesses for the growing hinterland tourism market.

Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg told the room, "There is a future in the rail trail market and it's about business and community and council all working together to make this thing work and bring in all of these tourism dollars from all around the country and all around the world. There are really exciting times ahead for Lismore, I get optimistic and enthusiastic about what's on offer."

Rowan Lamont from Blue Sky Trails then shared some insights about the people who will use the trail and the experiences they are looking for. This is based on experiences of Rail Trails nearby, in NSW, other states and globally.

The Northern Rivers Rail Trail shared some data from the Tweed experience (Murwillumbah to Crabbes Creek (north of Ocean Shores)):

• 14,000 monthly visitors.
• 131,000 in the three quarters to December 2023.
• 94% of users say they will come again.
• Sunday is the most popular day to use the rail trail followed by Saturday, so weekends, and then Wednesday.
• Mornings is the most popular time of day.
• 80% of people use a bicycle, just under 20% walk and a few users for horse riding.
• Of the 80% of bicycle users, 30% use e-bikes (electric bicycles).

Rowan also shared statistics about who rail trail users are and how much they spend:

• The cycling economy is worth $17.6 billion in Australia.
• 9.5 million Australians ride a bicycle with 1.6 million sold in 2022.
• There are over 650,000 people using their mountain bikes every weekend.
• Mountain bikers spend $1,400 intrastate and $2,300 interstate each per year.
• The average cost people spend on purchasing a bike is $1,100. Cyclists will spend up to $10,000 on gravel bikes for rail trails.
• The largest age group is 45-54 year olds at 20%.
• The largest growth age groups are 30-49 year olds and 10 and under (families).
• There is a gender split 60/40 male/female.
• The gravel road (rail trails) market grew by 55% in 2023 with strong female participation.
• Between 2020 and 2022, the money spent on cycling tourism increased from $1.1 billion to $1.8 billion. NSW is engaging in cycling faster than any other state.

The summary of the statistics is that cycling is a fast-growing hobby in Australia and NSW where people spend a lot of money on their equipment and will travel to use rail trails if the experience is a positive one and spend money on accommodation, food and drink. If the experience is positive, they will return.

Interestingly, road bike users are decreasing while trail or off-road users are growing due to no traffic where families and friends can ride side by side and have a conversation safely. Cyclists ride for the social pleasure as well as the exercise.

Rowan spoke about the passive market that comes with cycling such as a family coming to the Northern Rivers, and camping with a young baby. While they ride the rail trail they will also look to do activities in and around the town as well as the social cycling market.

We can look forward to established Lismore businesses having new opportunities to provide services to a new tourist market as well as brand-new businesses opening boosting our local economy by the end of 2024.

As Kevin Kostner's character heard in the 1989 movie Fields of Dreams, "Build it and they will come."