Bill Millar greets a Russian tourist, Caria Kulikova, at the Ōtorohanga Station. Photo: Paul Charman
Ōtorohanga rail enthusiast Bill Millar is “gutted” that track maintenance will cut the Northen Explorer service to town over the festive season.
The Northern Explorer, a tourist train with a viewing car, normally visits Ōtorohanga on its northbound journey on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. It pulls into town on its southbound journey Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Millar, who campaigned successfully in 1993 for the passenger train to visit Ōtorohanga, said the train is a huge asset to town, carrying many tourists headed to-and-from Waitomo Caves.
The service will stall from Christmas Day to January 14.
“Closing the track when so many tourists are about is a bad decision; right at the peak of the season it will reduce numbers of visitors experiencing the caves,” Millar said.
“I don’t like to see this passenger service disrupted this way. What we need is a reliable and predictable passenger rail service between Auckland and Wellington.”
Millar suggested passenger rail – a boon to towns like Ōtorohanga – seemed to get pushed to the margins by unsympathetic governments and councils.
He said an example of the low priority placed on rail as a tourism asset was the fact that the Waitomo District Council was considering removing the town’s turntable for the Te Kūiti Railway Station.
