Taieri Gorge Railway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Taieri Gorge Railway | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Local Authority Trading Enterprise |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Area served | Otago, New Zealand |
| Industry | Public transport in Dunedin |
| Parent | Dunedin City Council Otago Excursion Train Trust |
| Website | [http://www.taieri.co.nz |
The Taieri Gorge Railway is a railway line and tourist train operation based at Dunedin Railway Station in the South Island of New Zealand. The railway is a Local Authority Trading Enterprise operated by a trust owned jointly by the Dunedin City Council and the Otago Excursion Train Trust.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Operation
[edit] History
The Otago Excursion Train Trust was formed in 1978 to operate excursions on the Otago Central Railway line. In 1990 the line was closed by the New Zealand Railways Corporation. The Trust then stepped in, in partnership with the Dunedin City Council to form the Taieri Gorge Railway Limited, purchasing the line as far as Middlemarch, along with some locomotives to operate trains. The line beyond Middlemarch was uplifted during 1991, and the trackbed handed over to the Department of Conservation in 1993. It is now the Otago Central Rail Trail, a major tourist attraction in the area.
[edit] Route
The railway is New Zealand's longest tourist railway and stretches along the former Otago Central Railway from the 4 km peg on ONTRACK's Taieri Branch, 18 km west of Dunedin, to Middlemarch, a distance of some 60 kilometres. Between Dunedin and the start of the line its trains operate on ONTRACK's Main South Line via a running rights agreement.
The railway line travels through spectacular scenery along the banks of the Taieri River, through numerous tunnels and climbing along the Taieri Gorge to the Strath Taieri. On its way, it crosses over a dozen viaducts, including the southern hemisphere's largest wrought iron structure, and passes through 10 tunnels.[2] The train operates daily to Pukerangi and on summer Fridays and Sundays to Middlemarch.
The same company also operates the Seasider tourist train along the coast to Palmerston, north of Dunedin, with bus connections available to connect to the Taieri Gorge Railway at Middlemarch.
[edit] Rolling stock
The railway uses five former New Zealand Railways DJ class locomotives and one DE class locomotive. All trains feature heritage carriages dating back to the 1920, with open platforms between the carriages, and some trains also have panorama carriages.
New Cars. In Sept 2007 Taieri Gorge Railway announced it had purchased 12 ex Wairarapa Connection 56ft cars to replace its Heritage wooden open platform cars. These will enter service from Feb/March 2008. [2]
[edit] Freight haulage
In the early 2000s, Taieri Gorge Railway investigated the possibility of introducing log haulage between Mount Allan and Port Chalmers at the end of the Port Chalmers Branch. However, on 12 June 2007, it was announced that a cost difference of NZ$5 million existed between road and rail haulage in favour of road, and potential government subsidies were insufficient to close the gap. The announcement was met with disappointment by the Dunedin City Council, who favourably viewed the rail option as it was more environmentally friendly and would have reduced traffic congestion.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ About the Taieri Gorge Railway (from the official Taieri Gorge Railway website)
- ^ a b Taieri Gorge Railway - 2006-2007 Times & Destinations - Leaflet by Taieri Gorge Railway Limited, March 2006
- ^ Simon Hartley, "Costs Rule Out Rail in the Long Run", Otago Daily Times, 12 June 2007.
[edit] External links
- Taieri Gorge Railway, Dunedin New Zealand (official website)
- Taieri Gorge Railway Photo gallery (private website)
- Otago Central Branch Railway (from private website 'Railways of New Zealand')
- Taieri Gorge Railway - New Zealand (well-edited youtube video of the journey)
|
|||||
