Wellington-Gisborne Express in 1983

 

Wellington-Gisborne Express

Wellington-Gisborne Express

Your guide to one of the most scenic journeys in New Zealand

Wellington-Gisborne express route guide

Wellington-Gisborne express route guide

Wellington-Gisborne express route guide

Revised Wellington-Gisborne express timetable

I twice rode the Wellington-Gisborne express as a child, albeit only as far as Napier in both cases, and it was the first time I travelled on my own.  At the time the service had been upgraded from the awful suburban configuration 56ft cars (with hard vinyl bench seats) to the much more comfortable Ac Class "grassgrubs" with separate reclining seats and carpet.  In September 1984 they too would be replaced by refurbished 56ft cars with similar seating to that provided for the Picton-Christchurch express, which was adequate (the Ac cars, which were 88-seat Fiat Articulated Railcars with engines removed, were becoming unfit for operation due to metal fatigue from being locomotive-hauled since 1978). 

Above is the publicity leaflet published in June 1983 for the train, but also the revised timetable inserted later in the year, and the guidebook to the scenic nature of the route.  The publicity leaflet clearly depicts on the front page the interior of an Ac car (with the winding window.  The timetable depicts the two refreshment stops at Palmerston North (ranging between 15 and 20 minutes) and Napier (similarly between 15 and 20 minutes). The travel time from Napier to Gisborne is notably roughly as long as it is from Napier to Paraparaumu!  

Also notable was how the Sunday service was scheduled to stop at more stations than on other days, notice Paekakariki, Waikanae (remember the commuter rail network in Wellington ended at Paraparaumu at this time) and Shannon all have stops if required on a Sunday only.

This train would ultimately be the last regular passenger service to Gisborne before Cyclone Bola damaged the line, and NZ Railways Corporation decided it was not viable to reinstate the service north of Napier due to poor patronage, and reverted to a single train set to operate a return Wellington-Napier-Wellington train each day. 

Travelpass

 

Travelpass was the NZR product that, similar Eurail in Europe, it offered tourists a single price to travel on  as many trains, buses and ferries (of NZR) that they wish over a set number of days. It only worked because NZR had both trains and Road Services to provide enough of a network of services (see the map), with only a few locations (Mount Cook, Nelson) left out of the network.  It included suburban services, both rail in Wellington and Auckland (albeit the latter was not a high frequency schedule), and buses in parts of Auckland, Rotorua, Hawke's Bay, Hutt Valley/Wellington, Dunedin. 

It did NOT prevent the need to make reservations, which had to be done in person at stations or a travel agent.  Sleeping berths on the Northerner were extras. 

$180 for 15 days ($732 in 2023 prices) and $240 ($976 in 2023 prices) for 22 days.