Maybe it's not so expensive, just looked at Air NZ 1-way flights between Õtautahi Christchurch and Invercargill (booking a week ahead) and it was $360-530...
Fascinating to see this mid-market positioning between premium tourist trains and budget buses. The pricing structure at $229 for the full Christchurch-Invercargill route feels viable if they can build regular ridership. That comparison to the old Southerner's notoriously poor on-time performance is intresting, seems like coordinating around freight schedules could be the real challenge. I've always thought long-distance rail needs to find that sweet spot between transport and tourism to survive.
Thanks, Darren. I'd been looking forward to someone's feedback. I'd use it as part of a holiday. Until there's a more frequent service (eg weekly out twice a month), this probably means going one way by train and the other by bus. Was a one-way fare possible?
Maybe it's not so expensive, just looked at Air NZ 1-way flights between Õtautahi Christchurch and Invercargill (booking a week ahead) and it was $360-530...
Fascinating to see this mid-market positioning between premium tourist trains and budget buses. The pricing structure at $229 for the full Christchurch-Invercargill route feels viable if they can build regular ridership. That comparison to the old Southerner's notoriously poor on-time performance is intresting, seems like coordinating around freight schedules could be the real challenge. I've always thought long-distance rail needs to find that sweet spot between transport and tourism to survive.
Thanks, Darren. I'd been looking forward to someone's feedback. I'd use it as part of a holiday. Until there's a more frequent service (eg weekly out twice a month), this probably means going one way by train and the other by bus. Was a one-way fare possible?
The fares in the article are one-way fares and quite a number of people, myself included, did point-to-point one way journeys.