OnTrack

OnTrack was a regional rail line that operated in Syracuse, New York from 1994 to 2007. During much of its operation, Syracuse was the smallest city in the United States to have regional train service. The line ran from Colvin Street on the city's south side via Syracuse University and Armory Square to the Carousel Center, using four Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDC-1) built in the 1950s. It was operated by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway.

History

When service began in 1994, the trains ran between Syracuse University, Armory Square and Carousel Center ten times a day, seven days a week. In 2005, service was limited to Saturdays. The fare was $1.50.

Financing was approved in April 2004 to build a bridge that would allow OnTrack to reach the William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center, Central New York Regional Market, and NBT Bank Stadium. These stations had been built and most of the track had been laid, with simply the bridge link missing.

OnTrack was heavily subsidized with roughly $8 million of state money spent on the system. In order to be profitable, OnTrack needed 500 riders a day; at its height it received 75. In July 2007, OnTrack ended service indefinitely.

KiwiRail

KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand State-owned enterprise responsible for rail operations, which trades as KiwiRail. Headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, KiwiRail is the largest rail transport operator in New Zealand. Since July 2010 John Spencer has been the chairman. KiwiRail Scenic Journeys, Tranz Metro, Interisland Line and KiwiRail Freight are all subsidiaries of KiwiRail.

History

KiwiRail was created from a number of entities that date back to the 19th century. Prior to KiwiRail, rail transport in New Zealand has been under both public and private ownership. Government operators included the Public Works Department (1873–1880), New Zealand Railways Department (1880–1982), and the New Zealand Railways Corporation (1982–1990). New Zealand Rail Limited was split off from the Railways Corporation (which continued to own the land beneath the rail network) in 1990, privatised in 1993 and then renamed in 1995 to Tranz Rail. In 2004 Tranz Rail's rail, ferry and trucking operations were taken over by Toll Holdings and renamed Toll NZ, with the central government buying back the rail network under the New Zealand Railways Corporation (trading as ONTRACK). After several years of negotiations the two parties could not come to an agreement on the amount that Toll should pay for access to the rail network (track access fees). In July 2008, the government announced the purchase of Toll Rail from Toll, renaming it KiwiRail. The Railways Corporation then owned both KiwiRail and ONTRACK, but both companies were merged in October 2008 to create one company that controls both rail and ferry operations and rail infrastructure. Toll retained ownership of its trucking operation.

Ontrack (disambiguation)

Ontrack or ONTRACK may refer to: