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Interislander is a road and rail
ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...
service across New Zealand's
Cook Strait Cook Strait ( mi, Te Moana-o-Raukawa) separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, A ...
, between
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...
in the
North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...
and Picton in the
South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
. It is owned and operated by state-owned rail operator
KiwiRail KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise responsible for rail operations in New Zealand, and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, KiwiRail is the largest rail ...
. Three
roll-on roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...
(RORO) vessels operate the route, taking about three hours to complete the crossing. The inter-island rail ferry service began in August 1962 by the
New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...
(NZR). The service primarily provided a RORO rail link between its North and South Island networks, allowing NZR to compete directly with coastal shipping companies for inter-island freight. It also provided the first RORO road link between the two islands, which saw the Wellington to Picton ferries compete with, and then completely replace, the
Union Company Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Limited was once the biggest shipping line in the southern hemisphere and New Zealand's largest private-sector employer. It was incorporated by James Mills in Dunedin in 1875 with the backing of a Scot ...
's Wellington– Lyttelton ferry service. Today, the Interislander service is still well patronised despite competition on the Wellington–Picton sea route with Bluebridge and from airlines, carrying around one million passengers and 230,000 vehicles per year on 5,500 sailings. In 2017, Interislander became part of The Great Journeys of New Zealand, a new tourism brand created by KiwiRail to unite its four scenic passenger services: Interislander,
Northern Explorer The ''Northern Explorer'' is a long-distance passenger train operated by The Great Journeys of New Zealand division of KiwiRail between Auckland and Wellington in the North Island of New Zealand, along the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT). Thre ...
,
Coastal Pacific The ''Coastal Pacific'' is a long-distance passenger train that runs between Picton and Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. It is operated by The Great Journeys of New Zealand division of KiwiRail. It was called the ''TranzCoa ...
and the
TranzAlpine The TranzAlpine is a passenger train operated by The Great Journeys of New Zealand in the South Island of New Zealand over the Midland Line; often regarded to be one of the world's great train journeys for the scenery through which it passes ...
.


History


Introduction

Before 1962, the North Island and South Island rail networks were not connected, and the
New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...
(NZR) struggled to compete with ships for inter-island transport. In the days before
containerisation Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the p ...
, rail freight between the islands had to be railed in a wagon to Wellington, unloaded and transferred onto a ship to Picton or Lyttelton, then loaded into another wagon before being railed the rest of the way. The Union Steam Ship Company (USSC) ran an overnight ferry between Lyttelton and Wellington using steamers. NZR also contracted SAFE Air to run its Rail Air airfreight service for freight between the islands, from
Paraparaumu Paraparaumu () is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kapiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. Like other towns in the area, it has a partner settlement at the coast called Paraparaumu Bea ...
to
Blenheim Blenheim ( ) is the English name of Blindheim, a village in Bavaria, Germany, which was the site of the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. Almost all places and other things called Blenheim are named directly or indirectly in honour of the battle. Places ...
, but this was limited to aircraft payloads. The decision to start a rail ferry was made in 1958 by the Cook Strait Transport Enquiry Committee. The enquiry was set up following Union Steam Ship's decision to withdraw the unprofitable Tamahine, built in 1925. NZR was officially reluctant to compete with USSC for inter-island traffic, but supplied the New Zealand Railway Officers' Institute with information to put to the enquiry. The Cook Strait Inter-Island Rail and Road Service (as it was known) started on 11 August 1962 with the roll-on roll-off ferry .Crossing the Cook Strait ''
Ships Monthly Kelsey Media is a magazine publisher and trade fair company based in Yalding, England. Founded in 1989, it has bought and sold many publications over the years, including former Bauer Media Group magazines ''Sea Angler'', ''Car Mechanics'' and ' ...
'' July 2022 pages 62-66
The service dramatically increased efficiency, since freight could stay in the same wagon the whole journey, reducing time and money. ''Aramoana'' took just 3 hours 20 minutes to cross Cook Strait, dramatically decreasing the time between the two islands for cars and passengers - Wellington to Christchurch travel time was reduced from 11 hours on the USSC ferry to nine hours by NZR ferry and road. The initial service was one sailing each way per day, Wellington to Picton in the morning and Picton to Wellington in the afternoon. The new service led to the decline of NZR's Rail Air service, which saw a dramatic drop in airfreight. The service was an immediate success, although it was criticised for high prices. At NZ£ 9 10 s one way for a family of four and a car up to 4.04 m (equal to NZ$395 in 2016 dollars,) many people thought the service was overpriced for a state-operated service. Nevertheless, it was a
cash cow Cash cow, in business jargon, is a venture that generates a steady return of profits that far exceed the outlay of cash required to acquire or start it. Many businesses attempt to create or acquire such ventures, since they can be used to boost ...
for NZR - in the 1963-64 financial year, it contributed £535,000 of the NZR's £538,500 working profit. The service expanded with the addition of in 1966, in 1972 and in 1974. The Union Company responded to the competition by converting to take roll-on roll-off (RORO) road traffic and ordering a new RORO ship, . However, the resurgence was short-lived: on 10 April 1968, ''Wahine'' foundered at the entrance to Wellington Harbour during a storm, resulting in 53 deaths. By the time replacement ship entered service in 1972, competition from the Cook Strait ferries and increased competition from air travel, especially following the
National Airways Corporation National Airways Corporation is a commercial aviation company with its head office on the grounds of Lanseria Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company offers a range of products and services for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter mark ...
's introduction of the
Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...
in 1968, saw the Wellington-Lyttelton service become uneconomic. The Union Company withdrew in 1974, and after two years under the Ministry of Transport, the service was cancelled in September 1976. In 1982 ''Arahura'' joined the fleet to replace the ageing ''Aramoana'' and ''Aranui''. The faster ''Arahura'' reduced the time across Cook Strait by 20 minutes to three hours. Initially, USSC operated the ferries on NZR's behalf. This changed in 1970 when the Minister of Railways, Peter Gordon, announced that NZR would be forming its own maritime service to operate the inter-island ferries.


SeaRail and The Interislander

When the
New Zealand Railways Corporation New Zealand Railways Corporation (NZRC) is the state-owned enterprise that owns the land beneath KiwiRail's railway network on behalf of the Crown. The Corporation has existed under a number of guises since 1982, when the old New Zealand Railway ...
(the successor to the Railways Department) was restructured in 1982, the service was renamed "SeaRail". In 1989, it was renamed the Interisland Line, and the service became known as The Interislander. The fleet was upgraded with improved facilities and an updated livery whose logo incorporated
Pelorus Jack Pelorus Jack (fl. 1888 – April 1912) was a Risso's dolphin (''Grampus griseus'') that was famous for meeting and escorting ships through a stretch of water in Cook Strait, New Zealand. The animal was reported over a 24 year period, from ...
. In 1991, New Zealand Rail Ltd, including the Interisland Line, was spun off from the Railways Corporation. In 1993, New Zealand Rail Ltd was privatised and became Tranz Rail in 1995. In 1999, Tranz Rail leased , and between 1999 and 2001 disposed of ''Arahanga'' and the ''Aratika''. In 2004,
Toll NZ Toll Domestic Forwarding (TDF) is a division of the Toll Group specialising in freight forwarding by road, rail and sea within and between Australia and New Zealand. Toll is Australia’s largest mover of freight. Toll New Zealand is New ...
bought out Tranz Rail, and the Interisland Line was renamed the Interislander. Both ships were repainted in a new livery, with a fern replacing Pelorus Jack on the funnel - he moved to the hull with the logo. In 2005, Toll leased ''Challenger'', which in 2007 was renamed . ''Kaitaki'' was the first Interislander ferry without a rail deck, and the first with a bow door (all the other ferries were stern boarding).


KiwiRail

On 1 July 2008, the
New Zealand Government , background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg , image_size=250px , date_established = , country = New Zealand , leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern , appointed = Governor-General , main_organ = ...
purchased Toll NZ, including Interislander, becoming part of
KiwiRail KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise responsible for rail operations in New Zealand, and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, KiwiRail is the largest rail ...
. In 2011, ''Aratere'' was lengthened by adding a 30-metre midsection to increase its capacity. In November 2012, Interislander staff threatened strike action over the upcoming Christmas period, demanding better wages. Owner KiwiRail responded with a lock-out notice. Freight company Mainfreight slammed the union's actions as "bloody disruptive". In November 2013, ''Aratere'' snapped a drive shaft and lost a propeller in the Cook Strait. Interislander chartered to help with the peak summer period while ''Aratere'' was under repair. In December 2014, it was announced ''Stena Alegra'' would be chartered long-term to replace the ageing ''Arahura''. ''Arahura'' last sailed on 29 July 2015, and the ''Stena Alegra'', refurbished and renamed '' Kaiarahi'', entered service in September 2015. All vessels were scheduled to be replaced by two identical rail capable vessels by 2024. Then it was planned that the much larger rail equipped ferries would be introduced in 2024 and 2025. A NZ$551m contract for the ferries was awarded to
Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Hyundai Mipo Dockyard is one of the largest shipbuilding companies with world share rank 1 (50%) in PC (Product Carrier). Since the 1980s, more than 10,000 ships were repaired and converted until 2005 and 400 newly ordered ships were delivered ...
in 2021, with deliveries in 2025 and 2026. The new ferries will triple rail capacity, with space for 40 wagons on each ship.New Era for Cook Strait Ferries ''Ships Monthly'' August 2021 page 6


The Lynx

The Lynx was the Interislander's fast ferry service across Cook Strait. Pressured by Christchurch businessman Brooke McKenzie and his ill-fated Sea Shuttles NZ fast ferry service, the Interisland Line chartered the to operate a fast service across the strait for the 1994/95 summer. The "Vomit Comet", as it was sometimes dubbed, was an initial success, taking half the time of the regular Interislander ferries. ''Condor 10'' returned to serve as ''The Lynx'' every summer until 1999, when it was replaced by the for the 1999/2000 summer. A year-round service was started in 2000 with , which was replaced in 2003 by . In 1994, speed restrictions were imposed in Wellington harbour to reduce wash and protect ships berthed at Aotea Quay, and in May 2000 an speed limit was imposed on all ships in the
Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds are an extensive network of sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination of land subsidence and rising sea levels. According to Māori ...
after residents complained of shoreline damage caused by the ferries. By 2002, The Lynx took 2 hours 15 minutes to complete its journey. This was only a 45-minute advantage over the ''Arahura'' and ''Aratere'', which had the advantage of being able to operate in swells above The Lynx's limit of , which were common in Cook Strait and frequently caused cancellations.


Fleet


Current fleet


Historic fleet


References


Bibliography

* *


External links


Interislander
(official site)
Cook Strait rail ferries
– New Zealand History, by Ministry for Culture and Heritage {{New Zealand inter-island ferries Rail transport in New Zealand Picton, New Zealand Cook Strait Ferry 1962 establishments in New Zealand