In light of the demands of the growing community, a proposal has emerged pertaining to the construction of a new rail extension to the town of Royson. In response, the local member for the region, Siobhan Pierce, has published a statement entitled “Green light for the Royson Rail Project” on her website, enthusiastically contending that the proposed infrastructure investment will benefit all residents and pave the way for a more strong and sustainable future. Pierce aims to appeal to local residents to allay uncertainties regarding this change whilst advertising to outsiders to visit this town, either as a tourist or new permanent resident.

In an earnest tone, Pierce endorses the Royson Rail Project by delineating the inconvenience of transportation when lacking these developments. Through the repetitive incorporation of paronomasia in the title and throughout the piece including amusing references to a ‘green light’ and being ‘all aboard’, she creates a sense of familiarity with the concept of the expanding train network. This functions alongside the sense of relatability and camaraderie that non-local residents may feel towards Pierce by virtue of her sense of humour, altogether making the decision appear to be made on a unified basis rather than predetermined by governments. She takes a similar approach when writing directly to the town’s ‘newest residents’, utilising the inclusive ‘we’ beside the second-person pronoun ‘you’ to begin speaking on behalf of local residents, drawing attention to her stakeholdership as a figure of leadership and authority. Thus, this primes the audience to allow Pierce to take action on their behalf for the rail in a similar way due to her reliability thus far, having been selected as the local member by the town’s majority. Additionally, by repetitively illuminating the ‘inadequa[cy]’ of Royson’s current infrastructure, Pierce magnifies the problem, creating an urgency that she alleviated by immediately providing the solution: rail infrastructure. Indeed, the connotations of inconvenience and distress within the idea of ‘endur[ing]’ a public transport ‘ordeal’ all contribute to a heightening sense of panic within local residents. This concern is rooted in not only the notion that their daily lives may be affected but also in the exacerbating economic prosperity of the town given tourists become deterred from the troubles of travel. She then moves onto appealing to ‘tree changers’ and ‘tourists’, advertising Royson by framing its ‘picturesque’ views and promoting it as an ‘appealing option’ that will be soon made even better on account of the new rail project.

Modulating to a more fervent tone, Pierce illustrates the manifold advntages of the new infrastructure, championing its long-term sustainability and accessibility benefits. Here, she employs the solution argument strategy to endorse the prospective future of the town and relive the fear of local residents. She helps to forge a unified front between herself and locals by coupling the anaphoric ‘sick’ with rhetorical questions that vilify the undeveloped infrastructure of Gullyville. This intends to alienate the town of Gullyville and thereby incite a sense of indignation towards its lagging developments and their consequences for residents of Royson. This is juxtaposed against the quantified ‘$4 billion’ and ‘$75 million’ dedicated to Royson’s developments, appealing to local and prospective residents alike and their sense of progression, fuelled by their distaste towards the lack of progression of Gullyville. Subsequently, the enumeration of a myriad of benefits such as ’25 bicycle parking hoops’, ‘LED safety lighting’ and ‘shared pathways’ endow a sense of convenience and accessibility to frequent public or sustainable transport users. This equally works to appeal to the environmental values of residents as the rail infrastructure not only improves efficiency in itself, but further offers convenient facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, contributing to environmental preservation efforts. The notion of efficiency and sustainability is echoed within the accompanying collage attached, with the simplistic slogan that reads ‘faster, cleaner, future-ready’ creating a distinction between the present transportation experience and the futuristic, advanced prospects that await the town. The image of the ‘high speed’ ‘Zoom Rail train’ with the surroundings blurred and only the train itself in focus solidifies the concept of advancements in rail infrastructure advancing forward whilst the town falls behind, soon to be out-of-sight, if not for the decision to incorporate this infrastructure within the town. Tourists, unwilling to be left behind or out-of-the-loop, may be incentivised to visit the town and become privy to the advantages hidden within, that can only be experienced first-hand. Further, the incorporation of the hashtag ‘tracking2tomorrow’ mirrors the sentiment that the town is ‘tracking towards tomorrow together’, consolidating the notion of unified progression that renders Royson ‘future-proof’. Hence, Pierce prevails upon local and new residents to express approbation towards the initiative, for the sake of ensuing improvements in their living standards.

Moreover, Pierce passionately targets Royson’s workers and those with an economic stake in the town, suggesting that the proposed rail infrastructure is imperative to negate the financial detriments engendered by COVID-19. By dichotomising the bleak economic realities of a COVID-infected world with the imagery of ‘bustling streets with day trippers, the school holiday rush of families’, ‘couples’ and other ‘visitors’ likely to be kindled by the rail project, she capitalises upon the consternation felt towards COVID to propel locals to rapidly reverse its effects. With the readership motivated by fear towards ‘empty streets’ and ‘darkened shop windows’ while yearning for a ‘booming economy’ and ‘new opportunities’, she encourages local residents and those with jobs particularly, to support the infrastructure project by virtue of its capacity to attract tourists and impart fortune upon the town.

Ultimately, Pierce exhorts local residents of Royson to provide countenance for the Royson Rail Project, and concurrently portrays the town as an advanced and progressive community devoted to accessibility, sustainability and prosperity in a bid to lure in tourists. Utilising a problem-solution strategy to endorse the initiative as a simple fix to a complex problem, Pierce advocates for the initiative’s long-term benefits to local residents, prospective residents and tourists alike.