KiwiRail's hoping New Zealanders will take to the rails on their next holiday

The TranzAlpine between Christchurch and Greymouth will be back running this spring.

KiwiRail chief executive Greg Miller says 70 percent of customers are international.

He says borders closed, getting back into business with all New Zealand travellers has been a challenge.

However, he says there have been 15-thousand bookings in eight days on the TranzAlpine.