Luxury rail travel planned for big
spenders
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.
