Bike trail could soon link Bendigo to Maryborough via Castlemaine

The trail could eventually link up trails throughout the region including some out of Bendigo, drawing more of this city's residents in.

The feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive for the plan to transform 55km of disused rail into a tourist link drawing more than 20,000 people and $8 million a year, Castlemaine-Maryborough Rail Trail Inc volunteer Deb Macer said.

"On past tracks it's increased business because of the amount of people coming in," she said.

Escalating demand for trails like the Goldfields Track, which stretches from Bendigo to Castlemaine and down to Ballarat, could help fuel demand for a new link to Maryborough.

So could the possibility of hooking up Bendigo's popular O'Keefe Rail Trail with Skipton and Kilmore-bound tracks, via Heathcote, without the dangers and discomforts of sharing roads with cars.

The new trail would be unique because it would virtually be bookended by two railway stations, trail committee member Sandy Harman said.

"You could catch a train to either end and then head back even as far as Melbourne," he said.

Other trails might also end in towns on rail lines but their stations were typically still some way away, fellow committee member Geoff Hooke said.

"It's going to connect with this community, for example," he said from the main strip at Guildford.

That was the same town where a railway bridge with spectacular views passed over the highway. It is the same bridge where, the story goes, only one train ever crossed before the entire line's closure.

Mr Hooke expected Newstead would end up becoming a popular drawcard if the rail trail took hold.

"It's got a thriving arts community and its railway station has been converted, already, into an arts hub. So that will just thrive," he said.

Ms Macer said the trail could also showcase one of the richest-known Indigenous stories in the country.

The trail's proponents are currently awaiting the results of a feasibility study in the months to come.

The survey closes can be found here.

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