Tour operators urged to save Overlander

Dover Samuels

Associate Tourism Minister Dover Samuels has urged tourism operators to consider negotiating with Toll to repackage the Overlander and turn it into a sightseeing venture.

He said he believed it could be commercially successful, but there were various Government subsidies that tourist operators could obtain.

It appeared a different signal to that given by Finance Minister Michael Cullen yesterday.

Asked if he would subsidise a tourism venture, he said: "That's something they have got to put together. It's not the Government's job to subsidise private tourism promoters."

Dr Cullen said he would listen to pleas to save the Overlander train, but believed the Australian company Toll expected too much money from Government subsidies.

Several councils are talking to Toll about its decision to end the under-used service between Auckland and Wellington at the end of next month.

Toll says Dr Cullen's refusal to give it a $1.75 million annual operating subsidy and $500,000 for new carriages made the 98-year-old service no longer viable.

Passenger numbers have dropped from 90,000 a year to less than 50,000 in the past two years as reduced air fares draw travellers to one-hour flights between Auckland and Wellington, rather than the 12-hour trip by train.

Regional councils whose areas the train passes through - Auckland, Waikato, Ruapehu (Horizons) and Wellington - want the Government to finance a six-month reprieve for it until alternative arrangements can be made.

Dr Cullen said he spoke to Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee yesterday.

"They're talking to Toll, they'll get an indication from Toll what it is they would be looking for and then they'll come to us and we'll consider that carefully."

The Greens have been pushing for a two-year reprieve to develop the service for tourists and have started a petition.

Mr Samuels made his call for the Overlander to be developed as a tourism venture when he spoke at a tourism industry conference last night.

He said some tourism operators had spoken to him of the idea.

If the train were reconfigured to better suit tourists - with bigger windows for example - it could become a sightseeing attraction.

"It would be a tragedy to see the Overlander go into history.

"It's got to be reconfigured in a way that it is clearly a tourist product, rather than purely a passenger service.

"I believe there's an economic integrity plan that the stakeholders could put together so that this could be a self-sustaining business venture."

But he said he wasn't ruling out subsidies.

"There are grants available to the tourism sector, but that's not my focus."

Regional councils have gained the backing of Local Government NZ in their bid to keep the service, which they say is an important lifeline for communities along the track.

They are also worried that the lack of trains using the track may lead to it being allowed to deteriorate at a time when other services are being looked at, such as train links between Hamilton and Auckland.

Toll has said it is committed to passenger transport, but it cannot sustain the losses being accumulated by the Overlander.

It says it needs to know within two weeks about any plans for the service, which will end on September 30. About 30 staff will be affected by the decision.