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New Zealand AK Class Carriage
The New Zealand AK class carriage is a type of 17 cars built by Dunedin's Hillside Workshops for KiwiRail's long-distance passenger operation The Great Journeys of New Zealand. Consisting of 11 AK saloon carriages and four AKC café carriages, supplemented by three AKL luggage vans and four AKV open-air viewing/generator vans converted from AG vans, similar to those previously used on the Coastal Pacific and the TranzAlpine. The AK class are the first new carriages to be built in New Zealand since 1943. Introduction Two AK cars, one AKC car, one AKL car and an AKV car entered service on the Coastal Pacific on 2 November 2011. The class is used on the Coastal Pacific, the Northern Explorer and the TranzAlpine, replacing panorama 56-foot carriages. Funding of $NZ39.9 million was announced by the fifth National government in March 2009. The class features a new white livery with the KiwiRail logo. Due to passenger loadings falling on both South Island trains as a result of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 (see famous trains). The journey is one-way, taking almost five hours. There are 16 tunnels and four viaducts, with the Staircase Viaduct elevated as much as . The train has become increasingly popular, and carried 204,000 passengers in the financial year ending 2007. By 2016, passenger numbers were approximately 130,000 a year, but rising again after the setback of the Christchurch earthquake, and were exceeding pre-earthquake levels. The TranzAlpine service was suspended in 2020 and again in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but resumed on 14 January 2022. History The train was introduced on 22 November 1987 to replace the conventional Christchurch-Greymouth express trains and became one of the New Zealand Railways Corporati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ''TranzCoastal'' from May 2000 until temporarily withdrawn in February 2011. It was the first train to use the new AK class carriages. The service was suspended after 14 November 2016 due to damage to the rail line from the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake, but, in 2018-19 ran from Saturday 1 December to Sunday 28 April. In November 2018 Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced $40 million for KiwiRail from the Provincial Growth Fund, to provide year-round service and to upgrade the Kaikoura, Blenheim and Picton stations. The service was again suspended on 23 March 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. The ''Coastal Pacific'' long distance passenger service was suspended once more in December 2021. There were plans to replace it with a multi-day rail tour. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand British Rail Mark 2 Carriage
The New Zealand British Rail Mark 2 carriages were built by British Rail Engineering Limited for British Rail in the early 1970s. From the mid-1990s, 150 were exported to New Zealand. After being rebuilt, refurbished and re-gauged, they entered service with a variety of operators on New Zealand's railway network. The carriages generally replaced older NZR 56-foot carriages, some of which had been in use for almost 70 years. History In Britain The British Rail Mark 2 was the second design of carriage by British Rail (BR). The first was built in 1963. Between 1964 and 1975, 1,876 Mark 2 carriages were constructed at Derby Litchurch Lane Works. There were seven sub-classes, 2 & 2A to 2F. The Mark 2D to 2F classes, built from 1971 onwards, had air conditioning and could be distinguished from earlier sub-classes by having sheet glass windows. All of the carriages imported into New Zealand were from these latter three sub-classes. When introduced they were used on all mainline serv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand DX Class Locomotive
The New Zealand DX class locomotive is a type of 49 Co-Co diesel-electric locomotives that currently operate on New Zealand's national railway network. All locomotives are owned by KiwiRail. Built by GE Transportation in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, they were introduced to New Zealand between 1972 and 1976. The class is based on the General Electric U26C model, a narrow-gauge version of the GE U23C model. The locomotives are regarded as one of the most successful purchases in NZR's history. The locomotives have seen several upgrades since their introduction and three sub-classes now exist: the DXB, DXC and DXR. Introduction The DX class was introduced in response to a requirement for a more powerful locomotive to handle traffic on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT). Before their introduction the heaviest freight and passenger trains on the line required two members of the DA class to haul them. The DX class could haul heavier and faster trains than two DAs, even tho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otago Daily Times
The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a combined print and digital annual audience of 304,000. Founded in 1861 it is New Zealand's oldest surviving daily newspaper – Christchurch's ''The Press'', six months older, was a weekly paper until March 1863. Its motto is "Optima Durant" or "Quality Endures". History Founding The ''ODT'' was founded by William H. Cutten and Julius (later Sir Julius) Vogel during the boom following the discovery of gold at the Tuapeka, the first of the Otago goldrushes. Co-founder Vogel had learnt the newspaper trade while working as a goldfields correspondent, journalist and editor in Victoria prior to immigrating to New Zealand. Vogel had arrived in Otago in early October 1861 at the age of 26 and soon took up employment at the ''Otago Colonist'', w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of China. Because Mandarin originated in North China and most Mandarin dialects are found in the north, the group is sometimes referred to as Northern Chinese (). Many varieties of Mandarin, such as those of the Southwest (including Sichuanese) and the Lower Yangtze, are not mutually intelligible with the standard language (or are only partially intelligible). Nevertheless, Mandarin as a group is often placed first in lists of languages by number of native speakers (with nearly one billion). Mandarin is by far the largest of the seven or ten Chinese dialect groups; it is spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretches from Yunnan in the southwest to Xinjiang in the northwest and Heilongji ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 metro area, and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the List of national capitals by latitude, world's southernmost capital of a sovereign state. Wellington features a temperate maritime climate, and is the world's windiest city by average wind speed. Legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the region in about the 10th century, with initial settlement by Māori people, Māori iwi such as Rangitāne and Muaūpoko. The disruptions of the Musket Wars led to them being overwhelmed by northern iwi such as Te Āti Awa by the early 19th century. Wellington's current form was originally designed by Captain William Mein Smith, the first Surveyor General for Edward Wakefield (New Zealand politician), Edward Wakefield ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NZR FM Guards Van
The New Zealand FM guards van is a rail vehicle in New Zealand originally used on freight trains but now used primarily on passenger trains, reclassified AG. Introduction First batch, 1977 In the mid-1970s New Zealand Railways (NZR) had a need for new guards vans for new vans for both freight and moderately fast passenger and express freight services, to replace old and increasingly decrepit vans. Most of the existing vans were built before 1946, including passenger express vans, post-war construction being only two batches of 35 and 30 vans in 1955 and between 1963-1967. The New Zealand Cabinet approval for made for the van order on 15 May 1973 and NZR General Manager T M Small made a second request to the Cabinet Works Committee for approval on 15 August 1974, but no work was made on design until 1975 due to the fact the NZR design staff were preoccupied with design of wagons and the reconstruction of the Northerner express. The first order for 56 FM vans was approved by t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fifth National Government Of New Zealand
The Fifth National Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand for three parliamentary terms from 19 November 2008 to 26 October 2017. John Key served as National Leader and Prime Minister until December 2016, after which Bill English assumed the premiership until the National Government's defeat following the October 2017 government-forming negotiations. After the 2008 general election the National Party and its allies were able to form a government, taking over from Helen Clark's Fifth Labour Government. It was subsequently reformed after the 2011 general election with a reduced number of seats, and after the 2014 general election with a reduced share of the party vote but the same number of seats. The Government had confidence and supply agreements with the following parties: ACT, United Future, and the Māori Party – which gave the Government a majority on major legislation. The National Party also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Green ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NZR 56-foot Carriage
The NZR 56-foot carriage is a class of long railway passenger carriage formerly used on almost all long-distance passenger rail transport in New Zealand. 88 carriages have been preserved. 1927: prototypes and first batch The first 56-foot carriages were built in 1927, being a development of the then-standard steel-panel AA class NZR 50-foot carriages. These first six carriages were 50-foot carriages with lengthened underframes at the ends, and the carriages retained the same bogie spacing as the 50-foot carriages.Research Notes on carriages, Part 17: 56ft Carriages, by Juliet Scoble Designed for sleeper use, these carriages were clad in wood initially. All were given the AA classification due to their limited running rights, and were numbered consecutively from AA 1616 to AA 1622. Later they were clad in steel and given new underframes to match the later carriages. 1930s-1940s: second batch It was not until 1937 that further 56-foot carriages were built, to a slightly d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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). Three services operate per week in each direction between Auckland's The Strand Station and Wellington railway station. The ''Northern Explorer'' replaced the '' Overlander'' from 25 June 2012. It was suspended in December 2021, after suspension in August for COVID-19 lockdown. However, it restarted on 25 September 2022. History Origins The first regular daylight Wellington–Auckland passenger train services, augmenting the older overnight services, were the steam-hauled ''Daylight Limited'' and diesel-hauled ''Scenic Daylight'', which ran primarily during summer months and Easter holiday period for many years from the 1920s onwards. The arrival of the ''Blue Streak'' and later ''Silver Fern'' railcars saw an end for a time to regular car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 transport operator in New Zealand. KiwiRail has business units of KiwiRail Freight, Great Journeys New Zealand and Interislander. KiwiRail released a 10-Year Turn-around Plan in 2010 and has received significant government investment in support of this in an effort to make KiwiRail a viable long-term transport operator. History Background Prior to the establishment of 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 beneat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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