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New Zealand's rail network has mainly lost out on intercity traffic due to its small size. The profit-orienteering, then privatisation of New Zealand Railways Corporation (later New Zealand Rail, TranzRail and Toll NZ) from the 80s lead to underinvestment (though it was renationalised in 2008 and renamed KiwiRail). Hence the proliferation of cars, Air New Zealand (yay?) - pretty much anything but trains. With the exception of commuter rail systems in Auckland and Wellington, the remnants of the passenger railway network lies with heritage steam trains, scenic services (which in all honesty are apparently some of the best in the world) and the Capital Connection (see below). It must be said, though, that the freight network is booming.
In Palmerston North, we have two passenger services eking out a meagre existence:
Once known as the Overlander,
the Northern Explorer operates on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) between Auckland and Wellington. Formerly a NZR cash cow, the advance of air and road travel canned the famed overnight passenger services. Recently rebranded as the Northern Explorer under KiwiRail's passenger unit KiwiRail Scenic Journeys, it now operates an eight-hour daylight scenic service departing Auckland or Wellington on alternate days, six days a week. It stops at 7 stations throughout the North Island (mainly tourist haunts) - down from 16 before 2012. http://www.kiwirails...rthern Explorer
The Capital Connection is a commuter train from Palmerston North to Wellington (the last intercity commuter train in NZ). Mainly aimed at office workers and day-trippers (especially from schools), it operates five days a week. It departs Palmerston North at 6.15pm and leaves Wellington to return at 5.15pm. Strangely, it is run by KiwiRail Scenic Journeys (the passenger/scenic intercity unit of KiwiRail). Lacklustre passenger numbers means it has often come close to the chop, though it has ostensibly been assured for one more year (that is, if passenger numbers improve in tandem with rising fares) http://www.kiwirails...tal-connection/
I rode on the Capital Connection once, last year, returning solo from Wellington. I hope that was an unusual event for KiwiRail. The old, unreliable (apparently last-minute replacement) locomotive juddered and crawled all the way through the early winter dark and once stopped dead for about a quarter of an hour with not a peep from the driver or crew. The styrofoam cup connected to a string they called the intercom eventually broadcast a barely audible, tinny voice explaining the whole situation. We arrived about half an hour late - my dad, patiently waiting in the dark at the railway station, was not amused. In all fairness, my mobile phone was dead.
