Overlander fate goes down to wire

Rail operator Toll was last night still considering the fate of the Overlander passenger trains, which are due to make their final trips between Auckland and Wellington on Saturday.

Although Cabinet ministers on Monday rejected pleas to reverse a Government decision not to subsidise a short-term extension to the service, Toll indicated then that it would take one last look at keeping the trains going.

Company spokeswoman Sue Foley said late yesterday that discussions were continuing and may run into today before a final decision was confirmed.

"There are a lot of things we are looking at," she said.

Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee said he hoped Toll would accept an offer by councils along the route to help to market the service to the extent it would not need the annual operating subsidy of $1.75 million sought from the Government.

Rail and Maritime Transport Union general secretary Wayne Butson said the 35 workers facing internal transfers or redundancy from the demise of the Overlander, after 98 years of passenger services on the route, were simply carrying on doing their jobs while their future was being mulled over.

"It is very stressful for them," he said, noting that they had worked extra hard in recent weeks looking after trains fully booked by passengers wanting to experience the spectacular journey before it ended.

Mr Butson acknowledged a suspicion that the fate of the Overlander may have become intertwined with a dispute between Toll and Government agency Ontrack over access fees to the national rail network.

Toll has warned staff in Napier it may have to stop running a daily freight train to Gisborne from late next month if fertiliser company Ravensdown continues to oppose a price rise the rail operator is blaming on an increase in its access costs.

That has led to speculation Toll may be considering the future of services elsewhere in a bid to reduce such costs, and may hope to negotiate an access fee cut for the main trunk line if it abandons the passenger service in favour of freight trains only.

But Ontrack spokesman Kevin Ramshaw said his organisation did not believe Toll could negotiate any such discount, as a national rail access agreement signed in 2004 covered access to the entire network "on the basis of providing nationwide services".

"This was a trade-off for [Toll] gaining exclusive access to the network for 66 years," he said.

Mr Ramshaw said Ontrack was disappointed Toll was reportedly considering the future of rail services, and warned that his agency would look at how this was compatible with provisions of the national access agreement.

TRAIN TIMETABLE

Monday: Cabinet refuses to bail out the Overlander passenger train service between Auckland and Wellington.

Last night: Rail operator Toll still considering Overlander's fate.

Today: Toll's final decision expected.

Saturday: Last scheduled day of the train service.