The Dunedin City Council has cancelled the next two Rugby World Cup trains from Waitati to Dunedin because of low ticket sales.
Fans would be taken instead by bus from Palmerston, for the England-Georgia match on Sunday, and England v Romania on September 24.
Rugby World Cup transport co-ordinator Greg Sligo said the Ireland-Italy match train on October 2 would run, with strong demand expected.
The council, which is underwriting the service, could not "bleed money" to run the trains.
It could book a $5000 loss per train if it went ahead, he said.
For Sunday's game, only about 20 Waitati train tickets had been sold, and about five for the following weekend.
Last Saturday, for the England-Argentina match, the Waitati train was a "fantastic success", with about 130 passengers. The Mosgiel train had about 300 passengers, and that service would run as scheduled for the next three matches.
Fans who had bought train tickets could either get a refund or transfer to the bus.
Refunds could be claimed from Taieri Gorge Railway or the Dunedin Visitor Centre.
Bookings for the bus could be made through Dunedin Passenger Transport.
Waikouaiti Coast Community Board member Alasdair Morrison said while the cancellations were "a bit sad" it made no sense to lose thousands of dollars.
Last weekend was a fantastic success, with locals bedecked in the national costumes of England and Argentina riding the train. A bus from Palmerston to link with the train had worked well.
He was confident the Ireland-Italy match would be a "boomer", with the train popular again.
