Preservation: Anyone for Golf?

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A report in the local paper this morning mentions a rather odd use of a mothballed line... FORE!

KiwiRail's mothballed Stratford to Okahukura railway line could soon be reopened for a fleet of modified golf carts expected to pump millions into the isolated region.

Waikato businessman Ian Balme of Forgotten World Adventures is in the final stages of negotiating a lease for the line to run 18 self-drive high-rail carts between Taumarunui and Stratford.

Should the NZ Transport Agency green light Mr Balme's safety plan for the idea adventure tourists could be steaming along the track as early as Labour Weekend.

"If you had asked me six months ago I would have said this had a 10 per cent chance of happening. Now I would say it is 95 or 98 per cent," Mr Balme said yesterday.

The idea is inspired by the world renowned Otago rail trail and has cost Mr Balme a "leg shaking" amount of money to set up so far he said.

"The Otago rail trail brings about $14 million into that area and we hope it can do a similar thing for places like Ohura, Matiere and Whangamomona," Mr Balme said.

The 18 modified golf carts include 16 two-seaters and two four-seaters. Each cart can carry at least two bicycles and can be driven both on the rail line and roads. Trips could be one or two days and are projected to attract more than 2000 users in its first year.

At this stage the carts would be driven in one direction from Okahukura near Taumarunui to Whangamomona with users potentially flown back to the starting point by the New Plymouth Aero Club.

Mr Balme said they were marketing the idea as adventure tourism and planned to run the carts from Labour Weekend to Easter.

Should the lease be granted Mr Balme's carts will start rolling on the line nearly three years after a derailment forced its closure in November 2009 and eventual mothballing in 2010.

But Mr Balme isn't the only one wanting to get his hands on the line and his plans could come unstuck if King Country Mining manager Ben Richardson is able to reopened the Tatu State Coal Mine in Ohura.

While his goal of having the mine up and running by the end of last year has passed Mr Richardson yesterday remained confident it would happen and the mine would provide KiwiRail with enough freight to warrant the reopening of the line. "That's a decision KiwiRail has to make. Whether they want 15 tonne of coal a day or have golf carts on it," Mr Richardson said yesterday.

In the business plan for the golf cart idea Forgotten World Adventures states their investment is undertaken with the full understanding that KiwiRail's position was freight operations on the line would re-start if a viable commercial opportunity arose.
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The 140km Stratford to Okahukura line travels through one of the remotest parts of the country. It has 28 hand-dug tunnels, two viaducts, dozens of bridges and passes through a number of historic sites.

Though high-rail maintenance trucks regularly use the line it is expected to cost millions of dollars to repair before the track can be used by trains again.

The line more or less follows these roads:
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Regan+St&daddr=Okahukura,+Taumarunui+3996,+New+Zealand&hl=en&sll=-39.344653,174.341354&sspn=0.050048,0.176296&geocode=FerAp_0dsF9jCg%3BFU3er_0d17FxCinD-6sz1kNrbTGlqcODUD5-qw&vpsrc=0&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=13&t=m&z=13