Mr Price said the electrification of the southern line in conjunction with the use of tilt trains has been one of the issues that STRUG has been campaigning on for the past few years.

“We have been recommending to the State Government that the new trains should be tilt trains - we are very disappointed that they are not,” Mr Price said. 

“It is disheartening - we lobbied strongly on both the current and previous State Transport Ministers and they both said they were interested in tilt trains, but when it came to the crunch they never carried it through.”

STRUG has been taking up the issues of local rail commuters for some years now.

They are holding their Annual General Meeting on September 5 where they will be electing a new committee and they are seeking some news faces. 

Mr Price said he would like to see some more people joining the group. 

“It is an exciting time because we are almost at the point of submitting a request to Minister for Regional Development John Barrilaro - asking him to fund a feasibility study into electrifying the line between Sydney and Canberra," Mr Price said. 

“This study is the basis on which a business case can be developed - without this the State Government will do nothing, so it is an important building block.

“We are also trying to get letters of support from local land developers and business leaders for the study. We have such letters from state and federal members of parliament and most local councils along the line - but letters from community organisations will strengthen our application.” 

Mr Price said if they are successful in getting this funding, Goulburn Mulwaree Council will help STRUG administer the funds and project manage the feasibility study. 

He said the study would also examine if any there were any viable alternative options to electrification.

“We still believe the only project that will give the cost benefit ratio the State Government wants is to electrify the current line,” he said. 

Members of the community wishing to give STRUG letters of support can contact Mr Price on 4822 4832. 

The AGM is on Monday at the Goulburn Workers Club at 7.30pm.