Update on Taieri Gorge Railway, New Zealand

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The other day I wrote about the train excursion i enjoyed back in February. I'm now feeling really grateful to have been able to tick that one off the list I have of New Zealand train journeys to be made. Yesterday the news broke that the Taieri Gorge train, operated by a private company, was in financial difficulties and therfore the service was being mothballed. The tourist industry has been hard hit in New Zealand and now that our borders are going to be closed for some time tourism will be reliant on NZ's small population to keep it in business. 51 jobs have been lost in the closure of this line. I knew the company was experiencing financial difficulties before the current crisis, partially because as a small company they were having difficulty in maintaining the upkeep of the very old track. Hopefully one day, when tourism in this country returns to normal, the service will be able to be restored so that others can enjoy it as I did. Some of you commented on the great photo I used in the last post. Unfortunately that one wasn't mine. This one is though, taken on an early February morning as I arrived to board the train. The platform looks deserted because a cruise ship had been unable to dock in Dunedin and the train had been almost fully booked by cruise passengers.