Silver Star (NZR Train)

The ''Silver Star'' was a luxury passenger train that ran overnight between Auckland and Wellington on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) railway of New Zealand, operated by New Zealand Railways (NZR). The train ran from Monday 6 September 1971 until Sunday 8 June 1979. It replaced the ''Night Limited'' express passenger trains which provided a faster service than the ordinary express trains, by stopping at only six intermediate stations (Palmerston North, Marton, Taumarunui, Taihape, Te Kuiti, Frankton) en route and not hauling a postal traffic as previous trains had.

Designed as a "hotel on wheels", the service was ultimately unsuccessful and attempts to re-use the rolling stock were thwarted by the presence of asbestos in the carriages. NZR eventually sold the carriages to the Eastern and Oriental Express, where they remain in use.

Introduction

The train was NZRs attempt to compete with the introduction of jet aircraft for business traffic between Auckland and Wellington. It was intended to improve the Railway's staff morale and image, and the concept was based on a shorter version of New South Wales Government Railways ''Southern Aurora'', with its 75-foot, 20-berth sleeping carriages introduced in 1962, providing Pullman-style luxury equal to the last United States trains, the ''Broadway Limited'', the ''San Francisco Chief'', the ''Crescent'' and the ''Panama Limited''. Planning for the new Auckland to Wellington overnight express began in 1963, and the concept of the train as 31 stainless steel carriages (two trainsets each night) of five "twinette" carriages, five single-berth sleepers (16 beds per car), a licensed buffet car and a power car, never changed.

The public announcement of plans for the new train was made in December 1965. Extensive study was made of other early 1960s Australian overnight trains, particularly the Queensland Rail '' Sunlander'', the Victorian Railways/South Australian Railways ''The Overland'', and similar designs in the United States, such as the final Santa Fe Railroad Hi-Level and Burlington Railroad carriages. New Zealand built carriages were estimated by NZR Chief Mechanical Engineer J. Black in 1958 to cost NZ£25,000 pounds for a second-class carriage and £35,000 for a first-class carriage.

By 1960, NZR had concluded that stainless steel carriages, which reduced maintenance costs, including avoiding the need to paint were preferable, even though this was at a cost premium of 12–20%. That meant in 1970 a per-carriage cost of $100,000+ for Japanese or Australian stainless steel construction, with $60,000 to $70,000 for conventional Italian or Swedish-built first-class carriages. In 1941 NZR built 31-seat first-class carriages at a cost of £7,140 and second-class, 56-seat carriages at a cost of £5,920 per carriage.

In 1967 the new train was promoted by the Minister of Railways, J.B. Gordon, on the grounds that it would deliver a clear return on its purchase cost and operation. Most equivalent overseas passenger rail services ceased that year and following the US Postal Service ending its use of almost all North American rail passenger services for first-class mail in September 1967—Santa Fe applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission to withdraw 33 out of 39 of the long-distance express passenger trains they ran. That is, all but the Los Angeles-Chicago ''Super Chief'' and its Frisco connection, the ''Texas Chief'' (Chicago-Houston), its Dallas connection, and two Los Angeles-San Diego locals. Approval for NZR to release tenders for the new train was made on 19 November 1968. The order for the train was placed with mid-1969 with Hitachi and Nippon Sharyo.

The ''Silver Star'' carriages were distinctive in New Zealand. Rather than being painted in the traditional red, carriages were made of unpainted stainless steel. Original planning for the train envisaged the sleeping carriages as the basis of new-standard NZR passenger stock with future passenger trains of six carriages and van, seven stainless steel units of 30 tons each (210 tons) hauled by a D^A class locomotive. Planning for this replacement for the limited express became more ambitious in the early 1960s, moving away from 25-ton, 55-foot stainless steel carriages of the type used on the Queensland Rail '' Sunlander'' to sleeping carriages with a 9 ft 9 in loading gauge. As a result, the usual ''Silver Star'' consisted of 35-ton carriages that would weigh 410 tons and contribute to NZR's requirement for the D^X class locomotives introduced from 1972 to haul the heavier carriages as well as express freight trains on the NIMT.

This required a large trackside work project on the NIMT and on the ''Silver Star's'' alternative route via the Stratford–Okahukura Line, to accommodate greater width carriages.

Withdrawal

The ''Silver Star'' service broke new ground in New Zealand by providing a full onboard crew of car stewards (sourced from the inter-island rail ferry service) who doubled as dining car staff at mealtimes. A great deal of study had been made of on train meal provision, particularly of German and British Rail. The high wage and other industrial demands of the ferry stewards were one of the reasons the service failed. The product was effectively ten years too late. Travel by National Airways Corporation Boeing 737 between Auckland and Wellington took just over one hour; the ''Silver Star'', by contrast, taking around 12 hours and 30 minutes, thus the business market was lost. Due to the freeze on rail fares and charges imposed by the Kirk Labour Government, which effectively meant the price from Wellington to Auckland was held at $18 from late 1971 to early 1976, use of the train was high in 1974-75 and 1975-76. In the late 1970s, the usual overnight patronage was only about 65 on most runs and only half the carriage stock was used for most of the year except during a few airline strikes.

In March 1979, the General Manager of NZR, Trevor Hayward, in his booklet ''Time for Change'' noted that the average subsidy per passenger on the Silver Star was $20.00, then a substantial amount of money. The service was withdrawn not long after on Sunday 10 June 1979.

Rolling Stock and motive power

The 31 carriages were manufactured by Hitachi and Nippon Sharyo and hauled by diesel-electric locomotives (initially two D^A class, and later one D^X class) for a six-night-per-week service. All passengers were accommodated in sleeping cars, with 12 of these carriages being designated "Twinette" (8 x two-berth cabins incorporating separate bathrooms/showers for each cabin) and 12 being "Roomette" carriages (16 x single-berth cabins with toilet and basin facilities). Passengers could purchase dinner, breakfast and other refreshments during the night, including alcoholic beverages and souvenirs in the buffet car

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