Back on track: Historic railway open for business in Waihi

ALL ABOARD: Goldfields Railway in Waihi is back on track after lockdown. PHOTO/Supplied.

Waihi's heritage railway has returned to daily operation of its historic trains.

"The Covid-19 pandemic proved to be a real challenge for us," said executive officer Peter Cooper. "We shut down all operations on the day the PM announced the alert level system and notified NZTA of our decision first thing the following Monday."

Although the lockdown was difficult for the railway, it was able to financially weather the storm.

"We had quite a lot of groups scheduled to ride our trains before the country shut down and thankfully many just postponed their visits. Hopefully, they'll be back enjoying our rail journeys soon."

Cooper says he's proud of how his team of volunteers and paid staff focused on keeping everyone safe as the pandemic took hold.

"Even before the lockdown there were procedures put into place for enhanced carriage hygiene and changes made to ticket handling. All of the changes came from those working on the frontline at the railway.

At alert level 2, Goldfields Railway met Central Government and NZTA guidelines to restart limited services.

"We decided to operate only at weekends during level 2 to minimise the number of our team who would be engaging with the public.

"I'm really proud of how our team stepped up and supported the railway throughout the lockdown and eventual reopening of the railway. I'd also like to thank NZTA for its guidance and support during these trying times, and suggested to the agency that anything that Goldfields Railway has learned during the pandemic should be openly shared with other heritage railway organisations," Cooper says.

Goldfields Railway is looking forward to the future with initiatives in the pipeline that may finally be brought to reality.

Waihi Gold Discovery Centre Manager Eddie Morrow set up an informal network of tourism-focused businesses during the lockdown and they have come up with "some pretty exciting stuff" to raise Waihi's profile and attract locals and visitors to make use of the areas many attractions.

"Working together will produce better results for the town, so talking together and communicating means ideas will grow from there. Putting together packages to promote one another and work together is among ideas but we're not ready to go public with too much just yet," says Morrow.

"There are people that understand the benefits of working together."

He said Hauraki Mayor Toby Adam's comments about completing connections from the Waihi Railway and end of the Hauraki Rail Trail into town would bring plenty of opportunity.

"The trail is a great platform for all of the town's tourism businesses. What it does is create a really solid piece of infrastructure other things can connect to. The railway is a classic example."

In the meantime, Cooper is happy to see the railway's team settling back into their respective roles and hopes to attract more volunteers to assist with operating the popular tourist attraction.