Coastal rail journey in TV special
A South Island passenger train will feature in a 12-hour TV special.
The Coastal Pacific service, which runs between Picton and Christchurch, will be one of several Great Journeys to appear on Prime’s new half-day Go South show. A New Zealand-first, the show will have no narration, allowing viewers to sit back and be entranced by the diverse landscapes.
Viewers will travel on the Northern Explorer from Auckland to Wellington, cross Cook Strait on the Interislander, take the Coastal Pacific from Picton to Christchurch and cross the Southern Alps on the TranzAlpine. The show was inspired by the ‘‘slow television’’ concept, made popular when the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation aired a seven-hour train trip from Oslo to Bergen.
KiwiRail’s head of tourism and marketing, Ahleen Rayner, said there had been a ‘‘global resurgence’’ in demand for immersive journeys.
The 12-hour TV show would reflect the increasing demand for unhurried travel, where the journey itself was part of the experience, he said.
The show was made possible by the return of the Coastal Pacific in December, which was put on hold after the 2016 Kaiko¯ura earthquake caused extensive damage to the coastal rail corridor and adjacent highway.
Before the quakes, the service carried about 42,000 passengers during the summer travel season. Those passengers spent an estimated $34 million annually in the Marlborough-Kaiko¯ura region.
The service is set to operate daily through the summer season, which runs until late April, departing from Christchurch in the morning and returning from Picton in the afternoon.
‘‘The return of the Coastal Pacific in December connected the dots between Picton and Christchurch, and increasing numbers of customers are booking the entire journey from Auckland through to Greymouth,’’ Rayner said.
The 335-kilometre Coastal Pacific service includes 22 tunnels and 175 bridges.
‘‘To capture the footage, special cameras were positioned throughout our ferries and trains, including the cabs of our locomotives,’’ Rayner said.
This meant viewers would also witness what KiwiRail drivers saw during their crosscountry journeys.
‘‘The scenery they will enjoy is one of the reasons our Great Journeys of New Zealand train and ferry services are often named among the world’s best,’’ he said.
‘‘Many of these views are only able to be seen from rail.’’
Rayner said the programme would not be aired in real time, as it would otherwise be more than 40 hours long.
A three-hour short will feature on Prime at 9.30pm today. The extended 12-hour show will then commence later at 1.30am.