With Dunedin Railways preparing to reopen its Taieri Gorge run with The Inlander on October 5, and the return of the weekend Seasider services to Merton, Oamaru’s historic station will receive only special passenger trains about every eight weeks.
Its Oamaru offering, The Victorian, is due on September 28.
It will return three other times to Oamaru during the busy season to give people from southern points a day out in the North Otago town.
Dunedin Railways spokeswoman Sarah Hight said the Oamaru trains were not as regular as their other offerings, given the lengthier five-hour running time, but the demand was there.
The Victorian standard train into Oamaru offered a three-hour stopover on Saturday and again on January 4 and March 29 next year.
The Victorian Extended, timed for the Oamaru Victorian Heritage Celebrations on November 16, will give visitors a four-hour stopover.
Ms Hight said their Steam Punk special last King’s Birthday weekend "was successful" and may be repeated next year.
Demand for seats on next weekend’s The Victorian was high and "almost sold out".
The trains catered for 160 to 250 passengers.
Most of the demand was from Dunedin locals, looking to spend a leisurely 8.5-hour or 9.5-hour day enjoying the coastal scenery and then visiting the sights in Oamaru.
Ms Hight said in the past the arrival of the trains had resulted in an enthusiastic welcome from locals on the Oamaru station platform, including a pipe band.
At this point, how the platform area in front of the George Troup-designed ediface would be presented on train days this year was to be confirmed.
The station is privately owned but the platform remains in the hands of Kiwi Rail, she said.
"We do know there was interest in the community to do some kind of cleanup of the platform."
