Ōtaki becomes North Pole for Christmas Express

Sarah Ferguson, of Te Horo says she is amazed and delighted at the popularity and success of the North Pole Express which carried nearly 2500 passengers to the home of Santa Claus over the past couple of weekends.

The North Pole Express took passengers by steam train from Paraparaumu to the North Pole which just happened to materialise at the Ōtaki railway station.
The North Pole Express consisted of eight journeys, with just over 300 passengers on each train. About 3000 people missed out on tickets for this year’s event.
Ms Ferguson says the North Pole Express will run again in Kāpiti for Christmas 2018, and she is hoping to launch similar events in Auckland and Christchurch.
The general consensus from passengers was overwhelmingly positive with many saying they want to rebook as soon as possible.
Ms Ferguson says a lot of Christmas elf work had gone in to provide a little bit of Christmas magic, including securing the real Santa, but it had all been well-worth it.