Tasmanian Transport Museum extends heritage rail service into suburbs

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Those walking through Hobart’s northern suburbs today were treated to an unfamiliar sight, a historic train chugging along the old suburban railway line. The Tasmanian Transport Museum has extended its heritage tourist rail service by about four kilometres, now taking passengers from Glenorchy to Berriedale.

Transcript

00:00Billowing steam and bringing smiles, the northern suburbs railway line was alive today.

00:09Agatha Christie once said that travelling by train you get to see all the aspects of

00:14life, all the things that have been created by nature and all the things created by people.

00:19The Tasmanian Transport Museum has extended its tourist rail service to now run through

00:24to Berrydale, an extension of about four kilometres.

00:28Instead of just puffing around the yard here and just taking people for a bit of a ride,

00:33we can take them on a trip and go further along and look in people's backyards and see what

00:38they've got and those sort of things.

00:41For me it's nostalgic but for others it's just something new and it's calm, it's pleasant,

00:46it's peaceful.

00:47And it's been great to see people along the bike track stop and wave and you know people

00:52out on their houses and stuff like that.

00:54So it just brings a great vibe back to the city.

00:58This journey was the culmination of years of work.

01:01Our volunteers have been working since 2023.

01:04We've replaced over 400 sleepers on the railway line.

01:07And already attention is turning to the next stage, extending the line even further.

01:13Imagine if this connected through to Mona, Cadbury or even the other way into the city.

01:19This heritage train behind me might look as though it's firmly rooted in the past,

01:24but its arrival here in Berrydale marks a major step forward for Tasmania's rail enthusiasts.

01:31Today's trips were all about putting the line through its paces before public rides begin from December 28.

01:38Putting Hobart's railway movement back on track.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended