The ''Northern Explorer'' is a long-distance passenger train operated by

The Great Journeys of New Zealand Great Journeys New Zealand is the tourism division of KiwiRail that operate its three Scenic train services ( TranzAlpine, Northern Explorer and Coastal Pacific). The new division was launched in May 2017 and replaced the former tourism bran ...

division 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 ...

between

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and

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 metr ...

in the North Island of New Zealand, along the

North Island Main Trunk The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and se ...

(NIMT). Three services operate per week in each direction between Auckland's

The Strand Station The Strand Station, also referred to as Auckland Strand Station, is a railway station located on the eastern edge of the Auckland CBD. It serves as the long-distance railway station for Auckland. It is the northern terminus of the Northern Ex ...

and

Wellington railway station Wellington railway station, or Wellington Central station, is the main railway station serving Wellington, New Zealand, and is the southern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk, Wairarapa Line and Johnsonville Line. The station opened i ...

. 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. KiwiRail_passenger_train_map_north_island

KiwiRail_passenger_train_map_north_island

History

Origins

The first regular daylight Wellington–Auckland passenger train services, augmenting the older overnight services, were the steam-hauled ''

Daylight Limited The Daylight Limited was an express passenger train between Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand along the North Island Main Trunk. It commenced in 1925 and was replaced by the Scenic Daylight in 1963. Introduction After the introduction of ...

'' and diesel-hauled ''

Scenic Daylight The ''Scenic Daylight'' was a daytime express train in New Zealand, introduced on 17 December 1960 between Auckland and Wellington along the North Island Main Trunk Railway, replacing the ''Daylight Limited''. The service was steam-hauled initi ...

'', which ran primarily during summer months and Easter holiday period for many years from the 1920s onwards. The arrival of the ''

Blue Streak Blue Streak or Bluestreak may refer to: Entertainment * ''Blue Streak'' (album), a 1995 album by American blues guitarist Luther Allison * Blue Streak (comics), a secret identity used by three separate Marvel Comics supervillains * Bluestreak (co ...

'' and later ''Silver Fern'' railcars saw an end for a time to regular carriage trains. At the time of its cessation, The ''Overlander'' was usually hauled by DC or EF locomotives with

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 ...

Re-branding as the ''Northern Explorer''

In 2012, passenger numbers were in decline and KiwiRail decided to replace the ''Overlander'' with the ''Northern Explorer'', from Monday 25 June 2012. The timetable was accelerated by eliminating intermediate stops, except Paraparaumu, Palmerston North, Ohakune, National Park, Otorohanga (summer only), Hamilton and Papakura. From October 2016, fire-suppressed DFB class locomotives (as required for diesel-hauled passenger trains in tunnels) were assigned to the service. The service used one AKC and three AK class carriages, an AKL class luggage van and an AKV class power/viewing van from the ''Coastal Pacific''. A larger AKS luggage van, converted from SA, replaced AKL in 2019.

Patronage

The ''Northern Explorer'' carried 39,419 passengers in the year to 30 June 2014; about 1,500 more than in 2012–13, but almost 23,000 fewer than the ''Overlander'' in . Numbers rose 71% from 2013 to 2018, or about 65,000 a year and slightly more than the ''Overlander'' numbers.

Former Stops

The ''Northern Explorer'' served the stations shown at the foot of this page. There were variations from 2012. Papakura and Paraparaumu were added on 15 October 2012. Otorohanga was added on 10 December 2012. The Auckland terminus was moved from Britomart to

on 21 December 2015.

References

External links

The Great Journeys of New Zealand - Northern Explorer
{{Northern Explorer train stops Long-distance passenger trains in New Zealand Railway services introduced in 2012 2012 establishments in New Zealand Named passenger trains of New Zealand