Zig Zag is back.
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After successful testing of the railway's emergency procedures last weekend, the Office of National Rail Safety Regulation has lifted the restrictions on Zig Zag carrying passengers, granting full accreditation to run as a tourist railway.
Dozens of volunteers, staff and industry partners have been working tirelessly to remodel and repaint train carriages, renovate the station building, install an on-site cafe and meet safety requirements to ensure the railway is ready to welcome back families and rail enthusiasts alike.
Zig Zag Railway acting CEO, Daniel Zolfel, said the team is working on reopening to the public, with the rebirth of the railway not possible without the volunteers behind it, along with the support of the local community, industry partners and all levels of government.
"It's an honour and a privilege to lead the Zig Zag Railway into the next chapter as a national icon. There are numerous people who have helped turn our railway around. Particularly the current leadership team and those that aren't part of the team anymore but have contributed so much in the past," said Mr Zolfel.
"We are working behind the scenes to finalise details for our grand reopening.
"Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of Zig Zag and one of the driving forces behind me getting involved initially as a volunteer was so that I could leave it behind for my own children," he added.
The Railway opened in the 1860s as the first rail link between Sydney and western NSW, but closed in 1910 following a deviation of the main line to by-pass the inefficient 'zig zag'.
It was resurrected in the 1970s by volunteers who banded together to create the not-for-profit Zig Zag Railway Co-Op before closing in 2012.
Despite setbacks, including a horror run with bushfires in 2013 and 2019, coupled with floods, vandalism and recent storm damage, volunteers have been working tirelessly to return the railway to passenger services by restoring locomotives, carriages and kilometres of track. It's now full steam ahead for Australia's most iconic tourist railway.
