It may be too expensive to run a single train between Albury and Wagga, according to TrainkLink representatives.
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It comes amid a mass push to run a shuttle service between the two major centres.
But a popular call for an additional train to run alongside the XPT, has been met with a potential bus service instead.
The coach service will run as a trial operation, following public consultation.
Tickets will cost $2.50 for pensioners and seniors, $13.26 for children and up to $26.51 for adults during peak season.
The coach is expected to stop at The Rock, Henty and Culcairn along the route, bringing the trip’s expected time to about two hours.
While Albury councillor Henk van de Ven said he personally thought it was a step in the right direction, Wagga councillor Vanessa Keenan said it was a nice idea, but it failed to address the needs of the business community.
Wagga residents were on Friday invited to provide their thoughts on the additional service at two information sessions, held across the city.
Margaret Bannister – a resident outside the Riverina – said she would prefer to travel between Wagga and Albury by train but would accept the bus as an alternative.
“I think it’s more comfortable on the train – it’s smoother, you’ve got refreshments, more room and the toilets are nicer,” Ms Bannister said. “But if that is what’s on offer, that is what’s on offer.”
TrainLink senior customer service attendant Elizabeth Dinnell on Friday said inquiries across the day had been constant, with most Wagga residents saying they would prefer a train service, but would accept the coach if it was the only option.
Ms Dinnell said she was not aware of the processes behind the decision to run a bus instead of a carriage service, but she said it was also common sense.
“Trains don’t run for just one hour in Sydney,” Ms Dinnell said. “They go around and around because it would be too expensive.”
Ms Dinnell also wondered where the train would be parked in the interim and how the XPT could pass an additional train on the single tracks.
“It just wouldn’t work,” she said. “Any service has to be better than no service.”
But Wagga councillor Daniel Hayes said there was an industry need to connect Wagga and Albury by train.
He said a feasibility study would to help decide whether the cost of running a train for one hour, four times a day, would outweigh the economic benefit for both cities.
“We need to be looking at business models,” Mr Hayes said. “Yes it would be more expensive, but what would a train enable that the bus wont.”
