The West Coast Wilderness Railway is welcoming local industry to a special preview this week as it prepares to recommence journeys for visitors to Queenstown on Tuesday 22 September 2020.
Twenty-three local tourism industry representatives took to the railway today on a special Rack and Gorge departure, with a further 37 due to join a second departure on Friday 18 September.
“We are excited to be running these journeys this week and be joined by the minister and fellow tourism industry operators on board as we prepare to welcome back visitors next week,” Anthony Brown, West Coast Wilderness Railway General Manager said.
The railway was forced to suspend operating railway journeys in April 2020 due to the pandemic. In the months since the suspension, the railway has maintained its core staff of year round employees despite not qualifying for JobKeeper subsidies due to government ownership.
The team have completed a number of projects, such as the scheduled and unscheduled maintenance on the track and rolling stock, station improvements across four remote stations along the line, upgraded on board audio and visual delivery and an augmented reality experience.
“The shutdown has been hard on the team and we are very excited to be able to get back to doing what we do best,” Brown said.
“We’re really proud of the effort the entire team have put in over the last six months and especially in the last few weeks to get us ready.”
The West Coast Wilderness Railway will run journeys from Queenstown from 22 September 2020.
Strahan journeys are due to resume in January 2021 on the completion of a planned track replacement project that was delayed due to the pandemic.
