Train project must now steam ahead:

THERE can be few other tourist features, besides Bayworld, which are so immediately synonymous with Port Elizabeth than the city’s treasured Apple Express.

That is why an initiative to revive the operation of the iconic narrow-gauge train should not be allowed to run out of steam, so to speak, as previous efforts have sadly done.

For years, the gleaming locomotive ferried generations of local and visiting families on outings while also attracting a huge amount of interest from foreign rail enthusiasts, who would travel to the city with the express purpose of an old-world excursion on its pint-size coaches.

And in the early 1980s, it became even more prized as the much-vaunted competitor in the Great Train Race for which hundreds of athletes would arrive in the city to take it on in a classic and highly entertaining man-versus-machine contest.

Quite rightly identified as a key product to bolster the city’s tourism offering, there are now hopes to have it back on track during the busy December-January holidays.

This would undoubtedly prove a huge drawcard while also making it a feature of such events as the Ironman tournament and the Splash Festival.

The idea is to initially run a line from the Humerail station to Kings Beach and then eventually extend this to Chelsea – northwest of the Baywest mall – and Van Stadens, which would hark back to the scenic junkets of its heyday.

This past weekend a newly restored locomotive was unveiled – with a second ready within the next two months.

It is now up to the municipality and Transnet to iron out a strategy which will involve fixing damage to rail lines and repairing the Humewood station to provide adequate parking.

This restoration project – also including 17 of the 19 coaches – has been a labour of love, credit for which must go to a devoted assembly of volunteers who recognise what a priceless asset the Apple Express represents.

And that sentiment should be shared by citizens who will benefit from a string of offshoot tourism products, to say nothing of the sheer enchantment of seeing it resurrected and chugging along.