TranzScenic services threatened

Melbourne-based West Coast Railway is ready to axe four TranzScenic passenger rail services when it takes over the Tranz Rail-owned network in October.

The Otago Daily Times has reported that the four services to go are the Southerner, which runs between Christchurch and Invercargill, the Wellington-Napier Bay Express, the Auckland-Tauranga Kaimai Express, and the Geyserland, to Rotorua.

Services to remain will be the TranzCoastal between Picton and Christchurch, the TranzAlpine from Christchurch to the West Coast and the daily Northerner and Overlander services between Wellington and Auckland.

Tranz Rail is expected to announce this week that West Coast Railway, backed by Connex - a wholly owned subsidiary of Vivendi Environment, a member of the French Vivendi Group - is the buyer of the passenger services, with the sale to take effect in October.

News of the closures is expected to spark outrage in centres affected by the loss of services, sources say.

West Coast operates passenger train services between Melbourne and Warrnambool, in Victoria.

Connex was last year one of the most criticised passenger train companies in Britain before it was sacked from running the South Central franchise.

This was used daily by more than 100,000 London commuters.

Passengers complained bitterly and constantly of late and dirty Connex trains, frequently with not enough carriages, resulting in horrific overcrowding.

Tranz Rail has agreed to send a spokesman to Dunedin to meet civic and business leaders about any concerns they have about services in the South.

The Dunedin City Council economic development committee chairman, Malcolm Farry, said he would welcome a face-to-face meeting with Tranz Rail because similar meetings with Air NZ had resulted in a better relationship between the city and the airline.

- NZPA