No training wheels needed: Collinsville kids ride high at official opening of Bowen Rail Company-funded 'pump' bike track
There were plenty of thrills and a couple of spills as Bowen Rail Company and Collinsville residents celebrated the official opening of the town’s eagerly anticipated $300,000 ‘pump’ bike track.
Located in Darcy Munro Park, the Collinsville pump track is designed for bike and scooter riders and skateboarders to make their way over a thrilling series of rollers, jumps, and berms by generating momentum through up and down body movements, instead of pedalling or pushing.
Bowen Rail Company fully-funded the $300,000 cost for the first stage of the circuit as part of a 2019 Infrastructure Access Agreement signed with Whitsunday Regional Council for the construction of the Carmichael Rail Network. The Carmichael Rail Network entered operation in 2022 and connects the Carmichael mine near Clermont to Aurizon’s Newlands System about 70 kilometres south of Collinsville.
Bowen Rail Company General Manager Brendan Lane said it was terrific to see Collinsville’s young and young at heart embrace their new community asset with fearless enthusiasm.
“We’re deeply grateful for the incredible support we’ve received from Collinsville and the greater Whitsunday region as we’ve built our railway and grown from a startup to a thriving rail operator,” Mr Lane said.
“We wanted the construction of the Carmichael Rail Network to leave a positive legacy in Collinsville beyond the significant economic benefits of employing locals and awarding contracts to local businesses, or having rail workers spend their wage in local hotels, stores, and pubs.
“As we have grown, so too has our connection to our local region. We now have kids who go to school here, we have elderly parents who live here, and all of that drives the desire our people have to make sure we’re helping to build the community that we want to live in.
“Better playground equipment and new and more diverse activities for older kids were two things that resonated loudly in the 2021 Collinsville Masterplan, and the Pump Track is a perfect fit.
“So while this $300,000 investment in stage one of the pump track is a considerable one for our business, we’re proud to have worked in partnership with Council to deliver a lasting community asset and it’s terrific to see the kids get out there and put it to such good use already.”
Whitsunday Regional Council Mayor Ry Collins said the pump track was an exemplar of Council working with local businesses to provide investments that add to community vibrancy and sense of belonging.
“As a Council we spend a lot of our time upgrading existing assets and legacy assets,” Mr Collins said.
“So when we’ve got the opportunity to put something new into the community it’s really valued, and that’s shown by the turnout we’ve had for the official opening of stage one of Collinsville’s pump track.
“What Bowen Rail Company has done here is incredibly important and we thank them so much for being good corporate citizens for our community – not just in terms of the jobs and economic benefits they create, but for investing in bringing people together, which is at the heart of our regional towns.”
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