International Heritage Railway Passenger Numbers

Can anyone help please - what are the passenger numbers for the busiest heritage/tourist railways in the world? A few years ago, I seem to remember reading the business was an American line but can't remember which - it was possibly the Durango Narrow Gauge line but a web search by a colleague has revealed their figure is between 165,000 (2005) and 200,000 (pre-9/11 but growing again). Then I can definitely recall it was the puffing Billy line in Victoria, Melbourne, which runs 365 days a year. However, another colleague has just returned from visiting them whilst down under and their most recent figure was under the 300,000 mark (I think about 270,000).

Third used to be the NYMR but our has grown since then and the General Manager is quite keen to claim title of the "World's Most Visited Heritage Railway"! Does anyone have figures for other international lines? I know classification can be difficult - is a line run for tourist with mainly modern locos but some steam like the line on the German island of Borkum the same as the UK heritage railways? I would argue not but I could see alternative arguments!

If anyone has solid information, particularly if I was wrong on which was the top US line, it would be most helpful.

Posted here and in Heritage Railways to extend reach!

Thanks in advance.

Steven

 

Think the HSB carries approximately 1.1 million passengers per year - http://www.hsb-wr.de/hsb_barrierefrei/hsb/hsb_e.htm

says over a million.

Also read somewhere that over 700K visit the Brocken which is 100% steam and 100% tourist so no confusion with local diesel services at Nordhausen

Based on that the NYMR has a long way to go as yet!

 

This is were we get into "classification"! The Harz network, of which the Brocken is one of three lines, is, as I understand (it is still on my "to do" list) owned by a consortium of local authorities and is the rail network of the area - history meant it was still steam operated at reunification and has remained so. The Brocken is slightly different being a former "secret" military line until after reunification and, as you say, for tourist use now. However, this doesn't really make it a "heritage railway" in the normal UK sense - it is of similar status to lines like the Borkum Railway (which is not all steam but probably mainly for visiotrs to the island0 or even the Isle of Man Steam Railway.

You could even say the same about the White Pass and Yukon, which is still operated by its commerical owner but now has a season like heritage lines and runs tourist tyrains, largely with diesels.

As far as I can work out, neither any part of the Harz or the Yukon use volunteers as anything other than "friends". Puffing Billy does (albeit commercially owned) and we try to as much as we can on the NYMR! It really is comparing apples and oranges and perhaps best left alone! I do recall a good few years ago when Railway World looked into a claim by one line that it ran more trains than anyone else, the eventually winner of that prize was most unexpected - the Ravenglass and Eskdale I think - becuase in that case, a shorter line can run more trains than a longer one!

Steven

 

So perhaps the NYMR would like to claim the title of WMVSGHR - World's Most Visited Standard-Gauge Heritage Railway.
But would you really want to have that on your masthead?

 

No, we can go one better than that - WMVSGVHR - "World's Most Visited Standard Gauge Volunteer Railway" - not very snappy but I bet the initials would work as an activation code for several pieces of widely available software!

Steven

 

Steven,

The HSB has been a heritage line since the 1970s when the GDR declared all the remaining NG lines as Historic Monuments. Not surprisingly all were in touriust locations and as a communist state they were operated by DR as per all railways. In reality they were kept as they were tourist attrations and advertised as such. Now the only non toursist traffic of any significance is a round Nordhausen on the trams.

Perhaps it shouldn't still be on your 'to do' list - nothing else in Europe comes close and I can assure you that you would be back for more very soon!

Regards,

David