Electric bikes (not exceeding 300W) are now permitted on the trail and the mode of transport can be used by all rail trailers.
''This is great news and it was a total collaboration when it came to the decision,'' operators' group chairman Shayne O'Connor, of Clyde, said yesterday.
''It hasn't been a big issue to get this one over the line, so we're grateful for that.''
Department of Conservation partnership ranger Jacob Dexter, of Alexandra, said the policy change was approved at a recent meeting of stakeholders, including Doc, the trail trust, the trail operators' group, the Central Otago District Council, Tourism Central Otago and the Otago Chamber of Commerce.
''This was not a decision Doc wished to make alone,'' Doc Alexandra conservation services manager Mike Tubbs said.
''Doc recognises that having stakeholders' commitment to any change to the current position was critical to it being supported and implemented.''
The feedback from those at the meeting was unanimous in support of electric bikes being allowed on the trail, he said. The policy in existence since 2006 had been that electric bikes were considered ''vehicles'' and were not permitted on the trail. The only exception was for people with disabilities or mobility issues.
Electric bikes (300W and under) are defined by the New Zealand Transport Agency as a cycle rather than a motor vehicle. Mr O'Connor, who is also manager of Trail Journeys Central Otago, said there was increasing demand to hire the bikes and a rising number of people who had their own electric bikes and wanted to use them on the rail trail.
''I wouldn't say there's been a big mass of people who are using them yet, but there certainly is an increasing number and the popularity of them will grow as more people learn about them,'' he said.
