PHOTO
Future Dunedin Railways trips to the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony are likely, though probably not as part of a regular service.
A Dunedin Railways locomotive rolled to the end of the Oamaru Steam and Rail Society's line at the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony for the first time on August 26. Onboard were 140 people who had travelled from Dunedin, where the 10th International Penguin Conference was being held, to see penguins come ashore.
Dunedin Railways chief executive Craig Osborne deemed the inaugural trip a success and said it was likely a matter of time before further excursions were held.
"We've now been there and we're able to go there, so if the opportunity (was) presented, we would happily go back there. I think it's probably more likely to be charter groups than necessarily a daily operation, or a regular service.
"Certainly from our perspective it was a success. Obviously the benefits are we get to host people on our trains and get them out to the region ... and somewhere they wouldn't necessarily get to go.''
Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher also supported future trips.
"It allows passenger trains that come in to Oamaru to get off the main trunk line and able to disembark more easily. That's one part of it, and also the ability for them to travel around the harbour and see it in a different way is another opportunity ... to see as much of what we have as possible.''