Almost 1,000 passengers have climbed aboard to celebrate the re-opening of the heritage-listed Zig Zag railway in the Blue Mountains, after being out of action for more than a decade.
Key points:
- The Zig Zag Railway near Lithgow has reopened to passengers
- Almost 2,000 people will ride on the historic tracks this weekend
- The railway had been closed for more than a decade
The tourist attraction near Lithgow has been closed since 2012 after its accreditation was removed.
Multiple natural disasters, including bushfires in 2013, the Gospers Mountain blaze in 2019, and flooding in 2022 delayed restoration efforts.
The not-for-profit Zig Zag Railway Co-op has now completely rebuilt the track, restored signaling infrastructure and restored two locomotives and passenger carts.
Acting Zig Zag Railway chief executive Dan Zolfel said his team had endured “sucker punch after sucker punch” and his team today were overjoyed to re-open to the public.
“It’s an incredible incredible feeling. We’re so very very excited,” he said.
Tickets for services this weekend were sold out.
Nine hundred passengers were booked to ride the rails today, with a further 900 tickets booked for tomorrow’s services.
Crowds today lined Clarence platform and dotted key lookouts.
Passengers were waving to crowds as they passed by in a cloud of steam.
Aaron Nicoll, from the town of Hampton near Jenolan Caves, snapped up tickets as soon as they went on sale.
“It was shoulder to shoulder on board., no spare seats,” he said.
“There was cheering and clapping. Everyone was so happy to be there. It was quite spectacular.”
Mr Zolfel said he felt the future of the historic railway was bright.
Trains will now depart every second weekend.
He wanted to increase the scope of the tourist attraction’s offerings in the future.
“The sky is the absolute limit for us,” he said.
“I think we will work on our sustainability and then we’ll work on more and more attractions and experiences.”