The Managing Director of the West Coast Wilderness Railway, Anthony Brown, has given notice of his intention to move on from the role effective from January 2023.
Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Michael Ferguson, thanked Mr Brown for his significant contribution to the railway over the past six years, making it one of the west coast's most loved visitor attractions.
"During his tenure he has overseen a significant revitalisation of the operations of the railway and set it on a more sustainable course for the future, Minister Ferguson said.
"Seeking new career challenges, Mr Brown's six years with the heritage railway has seen unprecedented growth in patronage with services now consistently booked out in advance and catering to record passenger numbers.
"Under his stewardship, the operation rose to see record annual passenger numbers of almost 33,000 on more than 800 journeys in 2017-18, the last full year before COVID-19 struck requiring the suspension of services.
"By 2021-22, Mr Brown had overseen a return to nearly 24,000 passengers on some 440 services even though still restricted to a reduced capacity of 60 per cent. 2022-23 is on track to produce record revenue and annual passenger numbers of over 40,000.
"He has also been behind the biggest maintenance and upgrade program in the railway's history across rail infrastructure and rolling stock, including the replacement of 10 kilometres of condemned track between Dubbil Barril and Lowana, the revitalisation of bridges along the 34.5 kilometres of track and the restoration of both the D1 1953 Drewry diesel locomotive and the last original Abtlocomotive to be returned to service, Abt #2.
"Beyond the rails, Mr Brown has championed the expansion of the operations of the railway's two cafes with last financial year seeing record returns on food and beverage operations through more than 6,800 dinner guests catered to at Tracks Café in Queenstown and more than 5,400 at Tracks on Point in Strahan.
"We acknowledge the strong position Mr Brown has left the operation in for his successor and wish him well in his future pursuits.
"We are currently considering the best approach to fill this key leadership role and expect to decide on how we will go about it in the coming months."
