Long distance rail fares July 1982

This leaflet was sent to me in early 1984, reflecting that the rail fares contained in it were static through much of the Muldoon era price freeze, which was lifted at the end of 1984.  So if you wish to compare to today's prices, you may select either July 1982 or June 1984.  I'm a purist and under the Reserve Bank calculator, the multiplier is 4.36x the prices seen on here based purely on CPI. 

What's interesting about these fares, besides the actual levels, is the micro-calculation of increments that are highly bureaucratic in origin, not market or even business oriented. For example, it is $46.50 to travel from Paekakariki to Auckland on the Northerner by seat, but $46.00 from Paraparaumu. There is no good reason to have different prices for stations so close together, rather than doing it by broad zones (given the marginal cost of having complex fare schedules compared to flatter ones) as if it cost 50c more for a seat to be occupied for a matter of 5 or so minutes.

Also of interest are the fares that ARE available for some short trips. The Northerner by seat from Wellington to Paraparaumu or even Paekakariki to Paraparaumu (the latter for 90c, not the 50c difference for the longer trip). Similarly, Papakura and Otahuhu to Auckland were able to be booked, even though there was and is a commuter passenger rail service.  Sleepers on the Northerner were only available or longer trips, the minimum from Wellington being to Hunterville, and from Auckland to Mangapehi, but if you were Porirua, you would have to go to Wellington to get to Hunterville, because Taihape was your minimum sleeper trip. 

The Silverfern had minimum trips from Wellington to Palmerston North, and Hamilton to Auckland, but the Wellington-Gisborne express sold trips from Wellington to Paekakariki (and from Paraparaumu to Paekakariki), and of course any short trip on stations in between, such as Dannevirke to Ormondville, and the many small stops between Napier and Gisborne.

Down south the Southerner was a true limited express, but the Christchurch-Picton express sold tickets between Christchurch and Papanui, and even Kaiapoi to Belfast. The Christchurch-Greymouth express sold tickets from Christchurch to Addington and Hornby.

The cheapest long-distance ticket was 60c ($2.62 in 2024 prices) available between Opoutama and Kopuawhara on the Gisborne line, Christchurch-Addington on the Christchurch-Greymouth express, Te Kinga-Ruru, Ruru-Moana and Moana-Kotuku all on the Greymouth line. The most expensive was a sleeper from Wellington to Auckland on the Northerner at $69.40 ($302.58 in 2024 prices), bearing in mind that was a single berth in a twin cabin that would have to be shared if you weren't travelling with someone else.

Wellington to Auckland having three trains had three fares.  By seat on the Northerner overnight was $49.70 ($216.69 in 2024 prices), by seat on the Silver Fern by day at $55.80 ($243.29 in 2024 prices) and the sleeper mentioned above. The Silver Fern was priced higher as it was seen as a tourist trip, on a more modern train (~30 years newer rolling stock), with complementary morning and afternoon teas, although arguably the large reclining seats on the Northerner were more comfortable.

However, the difference in price between the sleeper and the seat on the Northerner said a lot about the relative economics of the sleeper cars. Each sleeping car had eight cabins, twin berth, so a maximum capacity of sixteen passengers (two sleeping cars maximum per train). The day cars (oddly named for seated cars) had around 30 seats, so pricing for sleepers should have been closer to double the price of the day cars (plus sleeping cars both had an attendant as an added expense, who brought morning tea/coffee and biscuits to cabins, as well as making up the cabins between seat and berth configuration). 

For interest, the services that compare to today being the Silver Fern (Northern Explorer), the Christchurch-Picton express (Coastal Pacific) and Christchurch-Greymouth express (Tranz Alpine) have the following fares in 1982 compared to today.

In 1982 the Silver Fern was $243.29 in 2024 prices - Today the Northern Explorer starts at $219 (goes up to $519 for the full gourmet experience). Indicating pricing is similar, albeit for a much better service today (the Silver Fern stopped in Taihape for a sit down lunch). 

In 1982 the Christchurch-Picton express was $89.82 in 2024 prices - Today the Coastal Pacific starts at $219 (goes to $499 for full gourmet experience).  The Christchurch-Picton express had no on board service of any kind.

In 1982 the Christchurch-Greymouth express was $61.48 in 2024 prices. Today the Tranz Alpine starts at $219 (goes to $499 for full gourmet experience). Likewise the Christchurch-Greymouth express had no on board service of any kind.

New Zealand Railways Timetables of Principal Service for Tourists and Holidaymakers: 6 November 1983 - 30 April 1984

 

Continuing a series of timetables is the summer 1983, autumn 1984 edition of the Railways Corporation timetable. This time I have included the NZR Road Services part of the timetable and will focus on the differences from the winter 1983 timetable (again apologies for my childhood doodling on it). Perhaps the only real difference on the front page is the new logo, the stylised NZR logo on an angle is meant to represent speed and movement more than the static logo.  The static logo had its origins in the 1970s under the Railways Department so it was appropriate with the corporatisation on 1 April 1982 for there to be a more commercially oriented look to the Railways Corporation.

The inset and the first page below are virtually identical to the previous timetable, but with the new Road Services logo advertising the overnight coach services.  My intention in publishing the full timetable is to show the sheer extent of NZR Road Services operations, which easily outstrip today's Intercity route and frequency structure, reflecting a time when coach services were much more integral to providing access to many smaller communities throughout the country. This was a time with lower per capita car ownership than was seen 10-15 years later when removal of tariffs on imported cars and easing of restrictions on used car imports saw the cost of buying a car drop significantly. The consequent reduction in car prices saw car ownership increase and the main effect of this was to see a dropping patronage for these services to uneconomic levels.

Unlike the previous edition, the Road Services general information does not come ahead of rail services, which much more conveniently are listed first with once again the Northerner and the Wellington-Masterton-Woodville-Palmerston North train, and Wellington-Masterton services listed. The Northerner timetable is virtually identical, except for some slight changes at the end of each direction's schedule, presumably reflecting changes in the suburban rail timetables in Auckland and Wellington in the morning peak. What IS odd is describing the next service as between Wellington and Palmerston North, when it was clearly not a service intended for such a trip (although there were no services around that time northbound, the Northerner wasn't that much different southbound).  Otherwise that timetable is essentially unchanged, note the large number of on-request stops in the Wairarapa, including Tararua District.

Unlike the previous timetable, the Cook Strait Ferry service (not yet branded the Interislander) was kept from this page, and this time the Silver Fern Railcar actually had the refreshment logo included (yes I drew it on the last one). The Wellington-Gisborne express timetable has not changed, note that only on Sundays would the service stop on request at Shannon, Waikanae and Paekakariki (remember at this time the Wellington electric suburban rail system terminated at Paraparaumu, but had only just been extended from Paekakariki a couple of years before). Other than those stops, only Ormondville was on demand south of Napier, but most stops between Napier and Gisborne were on request only.

The Silver Fern timetable is largely unchanged except for a delay at the end of the Wednesday "Blue Fern" locomotive hauled carriage train service southbound.

Sensibly, the Cook Strait Rail Ferries are on this page with the connecting Christchurch to Picton express timetable. The ferry timetable over this period is varied in part because of the busy Christmas/New Year holidays period, as at the time the DEV Arahura had been introduced into service in December 1983, replacing the GMV Aramoana (the original Cook Strait Rail Ferry), but with that larger ferry and the fleet of the Aranui, Arahanga and Aratika, the four ferry service enabled quite an extensive timetable, with six return sailings on some days, reduced to four from early February 1984. 

The Southerner timetable was notable for having a trial stop at Palmerston over the period of this timetable, as there was effort to attract back patronage from coach services. The Christchurch-Picton express timetable is unchanged, but note the number of on-request stops in Christchurch.  The very locally oriented Christchurch-Greymouth express (which I caught at the time with my Dad once in each direction) had dropped the 0600 departure from Greymouth except on Saturdays, so there was now a daily service each morning (two separate trains) in each direction Monday to Saturday (Saturday it left Greymouth at 0600 enabling an earlier arrival in Christchurch), but with evening only services on Sundays, and Fridays offering the only day return service possible, as there were Friday daytime and evening services. This gave travellers (like my Dad and I) 3.5 hours to explore Greymouth before returning on the evening train (and stopping for a second, third or fourth pie(!) at Otira and Springfield on the way back).

In the previous timetable, this summary of NZR Road Services routes was on the second and third page, again this time with the new logo. Note that some routes are marked as not available by Travelpass, because they were provided by private operators (variably Newmans, Mt Cook Landline and H&H Coaches, all of which are long merged and gone).

The first detailed timetable for Road Services focuses on Northland, with two Auckland-Kaitaia services, one via SH1 and the other via SH10. Note two departures at 0115 (AM) for Kaitaia from Auckland, with the SH10 service clearly intended not for through travellers. Likewise a 0115 service for Dargaville. Was this always three coaches or sometimes two (or one) connecting elsewhere? The timetable seems to indicate they were separate services.

It's fairly clear the Whangarei-Auckland services include the ones going further afield, but this page is focused on two routes between Auckland and Wellington. These services obviously competed with the Silver Fern and the Northerner for some traffic at least. It indicates six daily services between Wellington and Auckland on the two routes, with the 7:00pm overnight Wellington to Auckland service being non-stop (except for pick ups in Porirua and Levin). This intensity of operation indicates demand for a lot of travel between stops, but also how this was a main means of budget travel at the time. Bear in mind domestic air services were, at the time, a monopoly of Air New Zealand with discounted airfares still relatively high. NZR Road Services was the means for those with the most limited means to travel internally.

These following pages focus on the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne. The Auckland-Gisborne service ran up to four times a day and was clearly focused on parcel delivery, with services leaving at 12:45am (arriving 12:40pm), leaving 08:25am, 09:15am and 9:15pm. The Gisborne-Opotiki service was all about servicing Tairawhiti communities.  Auckland-Tauranga operated three times a day most days eastbound, but five times westbound! 

Auckland-Whitianga saw the Coromandel Peninsula well served, albeit with most services being other routes stopping at Thames only.  Wellington-Rotorua-Tauranga was a well publicised service as it had no rail competition, but only the overnight service went the whole way.  The Auckland-Napier service may not have been NZR Road Services the whole route, as Mt Cook Landlines operated the route as well.

Wellington-Wanganui-New Plymouth was a core NZR Road Services route since the Blue Streak service was scrapped in 1977. Around five daily services on the route indicates significant patronage, with three leaving in the morning, one in the afternoon, and an evening service, add a second evening service to Wanganui only, a daily Wanganui-New Plymouth service, and a daily Hawera-New Plymouth service, and you have quite the intensity of coach services.  

Few will know that NZR Road Services ran coaches competing with the rail service between Wellington and Masterton, with three services each way on weekdays. Although two of those were at times when trains did not operate. 

Down south the Christchurch to Westport or Greymouth via Lewis Pass service was intended to serve locations not accessible by the rail service.  It included services only to and from Hanmer Springs, as well as a daily service to Westport, and a morning service from Greymouth to Westport then Christchurch. 

The Christchurch-Kaikoura coach was only four days a week at times that did not parallel the rail service, whereas the twice daily Akaroa service harked from the days when Little River Branch had passenger rail which connected to a coach to Akaroa. 

As with Auckland-Wellington, despite having rail service, NZR Road Service ran multiple coach services daily between Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill. Two services ran most days the whole route. The daytime service was always designed to parallel the Southerner so passengers could ride the Southerner to a major station (e.g. Timaru or Gore) and catch the coach to smaller centres, with the overnight service replacing the former overnight rail service.  Notable were two additional services between Christchurch and Dunedin most days and another two between Dunedin and Invercargill, designed to meet demand at different times. The Christchurch to the Glaciers coach service went over Arthurs Pass in the days of the zig zag route on SH73.  This nearly 10 hour coach service was quite a run, but did ensure tourists could get to the glaciers cheaply. The Westport to the glaciers services was once daily, but there were three daily services between Greymouth and Hokitika.

This page is primarily Dunedin and Queenstown focused coach services, with twice daily services Dunedin-Queenstown via Roxburgh and Cromwell. A daily service from Dunedin to Wanaka via Cromwell, as well as a regular Dunedin-Ranfurly-Cromwell service which essentially replaced the railcar service on the Otago Central Railway line (still open but only for freight at the time), which had been cancelled in 1978.  Queenstown to the Glaciers plugged the Haast Pass gap (at the time SH6 over Haast Pass was a very unpleasant unsealed route, so was a gruelling 9hr 15min coach trip). A daily Dunedin-Milford and a second service Dunedin-Te Anau only added to the completeness of service in Otago. The Dunedin-Lumsden-Queenstown service sought to serve parts of Southland away from the Southerner service, but also provide the connection that replaced rail from Lumsden to Kingston and on to Queenstown.

The final timetable pages depict the Invercargill-Milford daily service (not a day return by any means) and the Invercargill-Queenstown service which enabled tourists to go south and join the Southerner the following day.  It also included the day return services from Queenstown and Te Anau to and from Milford.  Finally, the map depicting rail, ferry and major coach routes with notable gaps northwest from Hawke's Bay and inland Canterbury/Mt Cook (Mt Cook Landline country) and Nelson, north of New Plymouth (Newmans). 

On the back cover is the Travelpass ad similar to the previous timetable, with the same price as before, noting there was a Price and Wage Freeze applicable at the time (the final term of the Muldoon led National Government). 15 days at $180, 22 days at $240, both extendable at $15 per day.

New Zealand Railways Timetables of Principal Service for Tourists and Holidaymakers: 1 May - 5 November 1983

 

For some years, the Railways Corporation published timetables of its rail, road and ferry long-distance services, and this is one example with a cover used for a couple of years. Here I have scanned the rail and ferry, but NOT the Road Services timetable, which takes up the majority of the timetable. If anyone thinks I should include it, I will, but this blog is focused on rail, not coach services.

The cover page with colour photography has an interesting set of images. At the very top is one of NZR Road Services' new Volvo coaches on the Wellington Urban Motorway approaching the northbound onramp from The Terrace (before a median barrier was installed). To the right is a funnel from the Aratika ferry, nestled just below them is the rear view of a Volvo coach. To the left is a standard image of the day of the Southerner hauled by a DJ class locomotive, and below it the Aratika at Wellington's ferry terminal (the Aratika was, at the time, the "flagship" just before the Arahura commenced service. On the lower right is a double set of Silverfern railcars at Hamilton station.

The scanned pages do include some doodles, as I was a child when I had this, so apologies.

At the time, this timetable included rail services Auckland-Wellington, Wellington-Gisborne, Wellington-Masterton-Palmerston North, Christchurch-Invercargill, Christchurch-Picton and Christchurch-Greymouth. All of these services received direct subsidy from the Ministry of Transport under the category "Social Services Payment".

On the first inset page is an advertisement for NZR Road Services overnight coaches (bear in mind that the Railways Corporation was structured based on operational units, not business units). The main page contains some basic information to understand the timetable noting that children under four accompanied by an adult (!) travel free, and between four and fifteen children travel half price. 

For the timetable of a railway, the first pages focus on Road Services (which by and large, were self-sustaining financially).  The list of routes is printed below, with a focus on locations for tourists. Note that Hamilton, Palmerston North and even Napier routes are not listed. Of course both Napier and Nelson were primarily served by Newmans Coachlines at the time.

The first timetables for trains cover the Northerner and bizarrely the Wellington-Masterton-Palmerston North (and the Wellington-Masterton) services.  The Northerner, at the time with a maximum of six "Day" (seated) cars in a 2-1 configuration with large recliner seats, and a maximum of two sleeper cars (with 8 twin-berth cabins, and bathroom at the end of the car), and a buffet car (with largely 1980s cafeteria style food with some alcoholic beverages), took 13 hours to travel between Auckland and Wellington.

The two weekday Masterton commuter services using old 56ft rolling stock (second class bench seats) were supplemented by a single Friday night return service, a Saturday service scheduled so people from the Wairarapa could spend a day in Wellington, and a Sunday service return in the evenings only.

The Wellington-Palmerston North service was NOT for people travelling between those cities, unless you wanted a long scenic journey, as the travel time was around four hours for a trip that would take only 2hrs 25min on the Northerner, for example (and there were two other trains operating between Palmerston North and Wellington, with the Silverfern and the Wellington-Gisborne express).  It existed to connect the Wairarapa with Palmerston North.  It made sense to be opposite the Northerner, because for SOUTHBOUND travellers, it was a way of travelling from Auckland to Masterton and points north and south, as the Northerner would arrive at 0600 and the train to Wellington via the Wairarapa would depart at 0640 (whether the Palmerston North railway cafeteria was open then is not clear). Northbound it was possible to connect as well, but with a 2hr 20 min gap between arriving at Palmerston North and the Northerner appearing, it was NOT an appealing connection.

Of course the Wellington-Masterton-Palmerston North train at the time was operated by Ac Class "Grassgrubs" converted ex. railcars with no catering.  What is notable compared to the earlier 1982 timetable is the end of the weekend services north of Masterton, including two on Sunday and the additional Friday service, indicating a scaling down of the Wellington-Masterton-Woodville-Palmerston North service.

On this page is the Wellington-Gisborne express, which was operated also by the Ac Class , and with no catering, this train stopped twice for refreshments - at Palmerston North and Napier. A six hour journey from Wellington to Napier was not a fast one, given the drive could be four and a half hours.  Napier to Gisborne was even slower given the topography of the line at four hours 45 minutes northbound, slightly faster southbound. At the time this train was seen as a way of connecting some fairly remote communities with unsealed roads. It was long trip from Wellington to Gisborne by rail then, especially on a fairly uncomfortable train.

The Silver Fern Railcar is surprising left to last for North Island services, odd for the most modern of all of the services (unlike the 38-46 year old 56ft rolling stock, the Silverfern railcars were barely 11 years old, and air conditioned), and for a scenic daytime service between Wellington and Auckland. At the time the Silver Fern offered light refreshments, but with the lunch stop in Taihape (lunch time northbound, mid afternoon southbound) for 25 minutes. 

Wednesdays were NOT the Silver Fern but the "Blue Fern" carriage hauled service operating the ex. Endeavour rolling stock, but with three refreshment stops northbound (Palmerston North, Taihape and the Kuiti) and only two southbound (Palmerston North omitted).  Arguably more comfortable seating (wider and deeper reclining), this service existed because of the need to repair one railcar after the fatal 1981 Waiouru accident.

Also on this page is the four times a day return Cook Strait Rail Ferry service.

The Southerner remained the only rail service in the South Island with on-board catering, operating daily except Sundays (which was odd, given Saturdays were typically a quieter day for travel). The Picton-Christchurch Express continued to operate at this point with refurbished (but basic) 56ft cars, with Kaikoura as the refreshment stop.  The Christchurch-Greymouth Express remained a far cry from the Tranz-Alpine, with a daytime westbound service Monday to Saturday and evening services Friday and Sundays, whereas eastbound oddly had twice daily services listed in mornings (the early train not having a refreshment stop at Otira), and a Friday and Sunday evening service as well.  

Illustrated is a map of rail services, and some highlighted road services, plus a page advertising the Travelpass (which was a pass for rail, bus and ferry travel, but still required reservations to be made for each service).