Page "Canterbury Railway Society" Paragraph 7

During the 1990s, the restructuring and privatisation of New Zealand Railways had a major impact upon the activities of many rail societies.

Excursion train costs rose substantially and the number of such trains operated annually dropped off dramatically.

Such trains then became mainly the preserve of two or three larger organisations with their own passenger carriage and / or locomotive fleets.

Changes in employment law and working patterns for most New Zealand citizens resulted also in a major reduction in voluntary resources for groups all around the country.

In general, this has resulted in most other activities of the Canterbury Railway Society dropping away, and the Society is now exclusively based at Ferrymead and forms most of its activities around the site.