KiwiRail plans winter closure of scenic service

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One of New Zealand’s most spectacular scenic railways is to begin closing over winter because of a fall in tourism since the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

KiwiRail will begin operating an extended summer service – October to April – on the Coastal Pacific route between Picton and Christchurch.

The service is currently losing around $3 million a year.

KiwiRail has said it needs to sell 130 seats on each train in order to break even but some days there are as few as 30 people on board as the train leaves the station.

KiwiRail’s general manager, passenger Deborah Hume said: “Winter demand for KiwiRail Scenic’s long-distance passenger services (May through September) is much slower than the summer tourist season.

“For the Coastal Pacific service, the drop in demand in these winter months is even more pronounced than the TranzAlpine, as this train serves a less well known and travelled route. Added to this, since the February 2011 Christchurch Earthquake, travel to and from the city has dropped significantly due to the loss of tourist related facilities and accommodation.

“We have had to take a really close look at how we make the best of the domestic and international market we have, and a seasonal timetable does this. A number of similar services in Australia and Canada also run seasonal timetables.

“We’ve had to make changes to accommodate for this, but we are confident that the market will recover over time, and KiwiRail Scenic remain very open to working with travel and tourism operators to identify further opportunities to increase tourism in the Canterbury and South Island region.”

The Coastal Pacific service will run until Sunday, May 5, 2013 before closing for the winter.

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