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The glory days of passenger rail were a huge boon to King Country towns, and now there seems an outside chance they could return.
Older King Country residents fondly recall the 1970s and 80s, when day-and-night passenger trains linked practically every town on the Main Trunk Line, plus providing a twice-daily railcar link between Taumarunui and New Plymouth.
Then about two weeks ago, and most tantalisingly for railway enthusiasts, the Government announced plans to scope a return to regional passenger rail services, including a daily link between Auckland and Wellington.
The Government said it would also investigate passenger rail services between Auckland and Tauranga, between Napier and Wellington and an extension of the Capital Connection from Palmerston North to Feilding.
To be fair, the King Country still has limited passenger rail options, with Taumarunui and Ōtorohanga residents able to jump on KiwiRail’s tourist train, the Northern Explorer, at their local stations.
But these trains only run from Wellington to Auckland Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays and from Auckland to Wellington Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Meanwhile, fares seem to be well out of reach for most people in our region, and of course, even if one could afford to pay them, return trips are not available till the following day.
Northern Explorer fares for King Country passengers, are:
- Taumarunui to either Auckland or Wellington (one way), $124.
- Ōtorohanga to Auckland (one way), $82.
- Ōtorohanga to Wellington (one way), $199.
- Either way between Taumarunui and Ōtorohanga, $82.
By contrast, those of us who were around in the 1970s and 1980s recall relatively low-cost daily rail passenger links between practically every town and city along the Main Trunk, not to mention a comfortable daily sleeper train called the Silver Star, which ran between Auckland and Wellington.
At its peak, passenger rail was a major economic boon to the King Country, offering a more comfortable trip than the bus and a viable option for non-drivers. It was favoured by people making trips long or short, being well used by, tourists, elderly people seeing family in the next town, home-coming university and college (boarding) students, shoppers, people on business trips, those seeking medical treatment in larger centres and many others.
Could something like this service ever be reinstated?
Train enthusiasts among us will be hoping the answer to that is ‘Yes’, following the Transport and Infrastructure Committee recommendations, but maybe we need to take them with a grain of salt.
Labour has had an up-and-down relationship with the New Zealand rail network over the years, setting it up for privatisation in the 1980s and then buying it back, to create KiwiRail in the early 2000s.
Meanwhile, the Greens seem to be supporting Labour, while National and Act are both talking down even examining a return to long-range rail passenger services for the regions.
In 2021, Labour published its NZ Rail Plan outlining its long-term commitment to rail and “significant investment needed to achieve a resilient, reliable and safe rail network”.
“We remain committed to regional economic development and the role that rail can play in our regions. This is more important than ever as our regions feel the effects of Covid-19,” the report said.
Then last year, the Government initiated its Select Committee Inquiry to receive submissions on inter-regional passenger rail.
This was tasked with investigating the viability of passenger trains in under-served communities or those where rail links were removed, as well as evaluating existing inter-regional routes, like the Capital Connection.
It received 1752 written submissions: 1655 from individuals, 21 from local and central government, 33 from businesses and industry representatives and 43 from community groups.
Terms of reference included investigating possibilities and viability of passenger rail in underserved communities, those with prior rail links that have been disestablished, and those currently advocating for improved rail links.
The inquiry sought to gain insights into viability of passenger rail sitting alongside KiwiRail’s freight network. It evaluated existing inter-regional passenger rail, such as the Capital Connection, and how these services worked between local and regional councils and Central Government.
Above all, it looked at the climate and emission reduction possibilities of passenger rail, and how this linked to Vehicle Kilometres Travelled (VKT) reduction targets in the Emissions Reduction Plan.
The select committee reported that its feedback showed a desire for passenger rail between Tauranga and Auckland, in the lower North Island and an overnight service between Auckland and Wellington.
The alternative to the overnight service between the two cities was one which ran from Auckland to Wellington during the day, with more stops than the current Northern Explorer route currently provides.
