RAIL OR REALITY

Luxury rail travel planned for big spenders

By Abby Gillies NZ Herald

Passengers may soon be able to board a luxury Orient Express-style train to travel the length of New Zealand - at a cost of up to $1500 a day.

Businessmen John Johnston and Dave Nixon, who are directors of South Pacific Express, are behind the planned venture that would cater to foreign tourists with a big budget.

The pair are looking to buy a train previously used by Orient Express in Queensland and are also in negotiations with KiwiRail over the deal, said Nixon.

If it goes ahead, passengers will be able to board the luxury sleeper train from early 2013.

The service would be "comparable to a five-star moving hotel" that would stop at tourist spots to allow passengers to do activities such as salmon fishing, golf and wine tours.

For $1000-$1500, they would have access to all of the services they would receive in a hotel and some activities would also be included, said Mr Nixon.

The idea was proposed at a meeting in Whangarei last night that was held to discuss plans to consider closing the line.

The proposal could be the savior of the Auckland-Northland rail line, say supporters, because KiwiRail is reviewing the future of the line along with several others that are unprofitable.

"We hope all rail lines will stay open so we can showcase New Zealand to its full potential," said Nixon.

Spokeswoman for support group Save the Auckland to Northland Rail Line Vivienne Shepherd said the luxury service would be "fantastic" and could save the line.

"It gives us a glimmer of hope that the line would be left open,' she said.

Rail was a more effective and efficient way to transport heavy loads and could investing in it would ease pressure on roads, she said.

A petition with 13,000 signatures from people protesting a closure of the line was presented to Parliament last week, said Miss Shepherd.

Labour's Tourism spokesman Kelvin Davis said the plan was a "brilliant idea" and one of a range of options KiwiRail and the Government should be considering.

"Keeping the line open and viable is something the community wants - because they say it is their line, not Steven Joyce's - and they have come up with a whole heap of viable suggestions to do just that," he said.

KiwiRail was expected to make a decision about the line's future in about six months.

The train would be pitched to high-value foreign visitors as a moving hotel that would show them the best of New Zealand and across all of the regions.

If the northern line was closed it would not stop the planned luxury service going ahead, said Nixon.

Compare the above article with the one below:

Death of Orient Express no mystery

By Simon Calder, NZ Herald

The victim is 117 years old, much loved and respected, and can tell a thousand tales of intrigue and treachery.

The Orient Express

But the 21st century has not been kind to her, and now a death sentence has been served. When new international rail schedules begin on June 10, the Orient Express is to be killed off.

The train in question is the direct descendant of the service that began on October 4, 1883, taking 80 hours to reach Constantinople (now Istanbul).

Despite numerous interruptions caused by breakdown, snowdrifts, terrorism and war, Europe's greatest international train has continued to appear on timetables.

At present, it links Paris with the Romanian capital, Bucharest, twice weekly. From June, the service will end at Vienna. The body that coordinates international rail services is proposing to change the name on the reasonable grounds that it can hardly be called an express, and goes nowhere near the Orient.

The Grand Express d'Orient was a revolutionary concept, introduced by a Belgian entrepreneur and named by Georges Nagelmackers who, sadly, never became as famous as his United States counterpart George Mortimer Pullman.

At its sumptuous peak, elegant navy-blue-and-gold carriages carrying the brass crest of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits et des Grands Express Europeens concealed interiors and fittings straight from a Victorian manor house.

Waiters clad as butlers served first-rate food and wine to a clientele who expected nothing less. Dining-car chandeliers were crystal, the cutlery was silver, the napkins were linen and the upholstery was leather.

The artistry and detail of the wooden marquetry were exquisite; the solid brass table lamps and the luggage-racks were objects of beauty.

Celebrities and spies (often one and the same person, as in the case of Mata Hari) could travel in relative luxury from the Seine to the Bosphorus.

The Orient Express, as it soon became, provided an essential link between a continent tearing itself apart - and provided plenty of opportunities for intrigue, romance and treachery. Murder was not especially commonplace aboard the express, but sex certainly was: call-girls would board en route to provide some in-train entertainment.

Despite innumerable political derailments - and an early hijack attempt - Europe's premier train kept running through most of a turbulent 20th century.

Sometimes, extraordinary demands were made in exchange for the right to pass through a country: King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, and his heir Boris, demanded the right to drive the train through their kingdom.

The introduction of cheap air travel after the Second World War began the slow decline of the Orient Express. Rolling stock from its golden days was snapped up by the operators of privately run luxury trains, including the highly successful Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, which is continuing to offer a luxury service from the Channel to the Adriatic.

At 20 minutes past midnight local time on Friday, June 8, the last ever Orient Express train will depart from Bucharest, arriving a day and a half later in Paris.

After an overnight stay, the traveler will be able to board the very first Train a Grand Vitesse covering the 770km between Paris and Marseille in three hours flat. The 21st century has begun, and there is no longer room for the relics of the 19th.

Peter’s Comment

Long distance passenger rail travel is doomed.

I can recall numerous attempts to establish luxury tourist rail services in recent years and all have failed. The commercial reality is that well-heeled tourist on luxury trains in New Zealand will succeed like fish riding bikes.

I often talk with people who believe fervently that the rail system, and all the overgrown branch lines, should be saved. But when I question them they mostly admit that they wouldn’t use it themselves. They just want it saved because of its historic value and because they just love old trains.

But all may not be lost

Kingston Flyer back on track

7:09 AM Friday Aug 12, 2011 NZ Herald

Central Otago's historic steam train the Kingston Flyer is back on track and should be carrying tourists again by October, says its new owner.

The Kingston Flyer

The old steam train has been laid up for two years after the company operating it went into receivership owing more than $4.6 million.

However, Marlborough businessman, David Bryce signed a deal to buy the train yesterday saying it was too sad to see it sitting in a yard and not being used.

"I want to get it back running again," he told the Otago Daily Times.

Mr Bryce also bought the Kingston Tavern which closed after the train stopped running. He hoped to reopen the tavern next week.

He would not say how much he paid for the train but said the deal included two steam locomotives, vintage carriages, the Kingston Tavern, storage sheds, a 14km section of track to Fairlight, six residential lots and about 80ha of land.

Mr Bryce said he was humbled to have the chance to be part of the train's heritage.

The Kingston Flyer has been a New Zealand icon since 1878 and still operates today. But since the 1950s it has had a checkered history with long periods not operating, many changes of ownership and millions of dollars lost.