No movement on scenic rail

KiwiRail says it is yet to decide when its scenic train journeys will be able to restart under the new Covid-19 traffic light system – much to the disappointment of one climate-conscious passenger who prefers trains to planes.

Under the Covid-19 alert level system, the Northern Explorer, TranzAlpine and Coastal Pacific trains only operated at alert level 1, meaning they have been suspended since August.

The KiwiRail website says all services up to and including December 13 have been cancelled, but it gives no indication of whether the trains will be able to operate beyond that date under the red and orange settings of the traffic light system.

‘‘No final decisions have been made about restarting any of KiwiRail’s scenic trains,’’ a KiwiRail spokesperson said, adding that the operator was ‘‘finalising its policy for viable scenic train services under the traffic light system’’.

Marion Steel had booked to travel on the Northern Explorer from Auckland to Wellington on December 18, preferring to take the 11-hour train journey over a flight as a low-carbon travel option.

She had made her booking back in September, and recently contacted KiwiRail to try to amend her travel dates, only to be told by customer service staff they couldn’t make any changes or new bookings as they

still didn’t know when the trains would be running. After multiple calls, this week she was told it was ‘‘very unlikely’’ the train would be operating.

Steel said she had now ‘‘given up’’, cancelled her ticket and booked a flight instead. But she was concerned that other ticketholders would be left in the lurch, with KiwiRail leaving it until the last minute to contact customers.

The KiwiRail spokesperson said staff would be contacting passengers shortly, ‘‘once decisions on future services are ready’’.

Steel said she was also frustrated that KiwiRail wasn’t thinking about customers like herself who used the trains solely for transport, rather than entertainment.

She had been told by staff that one of the reasons they hadn’t been able to operate was because the cafe car would not be able to open.

‘‘In a climate emergency, trains should be celebrating themselves [as a] lowcarbon option. But instead they’re saying, ‘Oh, no – we can’t roll without a cafe car.’ ’’

KiwiRail has previously said the level 2 measures required to keep passengers and staff safe while travelling would ‘‘significantly impact’’ the service, with passengers required to remain in their seats in order to maintain physical distancing, which meant they would miss out on the viewing carriage and cafe.

The reduction in passenger numbers required to meet distancing rules also made the service unviable under level 2.