By Dylan Jones, RNZ intern
Photo: Dylan Jones / RNZ
A West Auckland councillor is hoping to give a defunct tourist train in the Waitākere Ranges a new lease of life.
The Rainforest Express - a miniature train operated by Watercare from 1998 until 2013 - used to do a three-hour return trip from Titirangi to the Upper Nihotupu Dam.
Watercare closed the tramline tourist attraction after a geological report found nine sections posed a significant risk to public safety.
Ken Turner, who is an Auckland City councillor for the Waitākere ward, had started the process to lease the land on which the trainline sits from the council.
He and other volunteers planned to form a trust to hold the lease, and a commercial business to handle the day-to-day operations.
Turner, who also owned a Titirangi mechanic workshop, and the other volunteers had been allowed access to the train depot in good faith by Watercare to perform maintenance on the train and facilities while negotiations continued.
There had been initial enthusiasm from council and Watercare for the plans, but that had diminished once paperwork had been submitted, he said.
"We really have got ourselves bogged down in this health and safety stuff. I really believe we have the right to risk.
"The risk they're talking about with this train is just natural hazard, which exists on Scenic Drive running on exactly the same ridge.
"I've had meetings with council and Watercare where I've taken the rail regulator who has said they'll be managing it, we'll have to get a rail license, and we'll take over the rail activity and health and safety."
Watercare chief operations officer Mark Bourne said keeping the train's passengers safe would be too expensive, with repair costs expected to be significantly higher than the $6.2 million estimated in 2013.
"The land along the tramline route is unstable and there are regular rock falls.
"We were proud to offer the service, but we cannot put people at risk of serious harm.
"We now have alternative and safer access for operational and maintenance tasks on the pipeline."
Cyclone Gabrielle and flooding events last year also caused slips that had damaged the tramline, he said.
Rahul Uppal, owner of the Olive Kitchen restaurant 600 metres away from the train depot, said reopening the Rainforest Express would be a good thing for the community and his business.
"We're struggling because of the floods - [the] roads are still closed a year and a half later."
The environmental risks could happen anywhere, and despite the train track being closed, "people still go there and the walking tracks are still open", Uppal said.
Turner said restoring the trainline would boost tourism in the area and help residents access nature.
"It's inside the Waitākere Ranges Heritages Act area.
"It was set up as a community engagement exercise to learn about [Watercare], about your city's water.
"It's going to happen. It can't not happen. We're protecting our heritage."
