Glenbrook Vintage Railway launches crowdfunding campaign to survive Covid-19

A vintage railway south of Auckland has launched a fundraising campaign to help keep its staff employed and to stay afloat amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Glenbrook Vintage Railway has been running as it is for 50-odd years, and boasts historic, museum-spec railway carriages that date back to the 1870s. It’s run by a charitable trust, and day-to-day operations are seen to by four full time staff members and a number of dedicated volunteers.

Like many operations, the railway had to shut its doors because of the restrictions in Covid-19 Alert Levels 2, 3 and 4, and has had to stay closed as the country moved back again to Level 2. 

One of its biggest sources of income is the Thomas the Tank Engine event, which sees hundreds flock to Waiuku to take a ride on a Thomas train. But because of the crowds those are unlikely to start again anytime soon.

General manager Tim Kerwin says he’s not even sure if the railway can reopen in Level 1, and by then it may be too late for his staff and the railway’s trains. That's why they're calling for passenger support.

“The trains have still got to be maintained, you can’t just put them on ice - it isn’t an option. When you actually park these up and shut operations down it’s extremely hard to open back up,” says Mr Kerwin.

“We may have stopped operating but the outgoings are still there and to run a railway operation there are significant overheads.”

The railway is hoping to raise $450,000 for operation and maintenance costs, staff wages, plus loss of income to date, and projected loss of income.

Mr Kerwin fears if they can’t get to that number the railway won’t be operating for the next 12 months, if at all.

“The four people that we employ provide a foundation and then our volunteers are the pillars that keep a roof over our heads and keep us providing the service,” says Mr Kerwin.

“If we lose them, our railway won’t be operating for the next 12 months.”

The railway's employees have received the Government's wage subsidy, which Mr Kerwin says has been a lifesaver. But it's not going to be enough.

"We greatly appreciate that subsidy, it has bought us time but we just don’t know what the future will be."

While the crowdfunding campaign is imperative to the railway's survival, Mr Kerwin says they've been working with ATEED and the local business associations on future initiatives to keep the railway going, while also helping out other local businesses and the domestic tourism market. 

Those initiatives include passenger trains touring around the Franklin region and beyond, and potentially even day trip packages or weekend getaways for city slickers to get out of the big smoke, and vice versa. 

"We are asking for that help to keep our trains here and keep our people here but we are also saying we’re asking for that help now to help others out in the future.

"One of the ideas that we're floating at the moment is a wine and dine train. We're looking at reaching out to local restaurants who would be interested in maybe doing say a four-course meal on a train so that each local restaurant makes money out of it themselves."

He says the mission for the railway isn't to make lots of money, and they would like to be able to support a rebuild in domestic tourism with its services.

Such packages could be underway as early as September or August if businesses and sponsors get on board, and if the levels allow for it. But right now Mr Kerwin's focus is on survival.

"We need to be able to get through the immediate crisis with this funding campaign."

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