New Zealand - GJNZ (Kiwirail)

[185]

Was going to visit New Zealand and had a look at their rail service, "Great Journeys New Zealand" website.

Hidden away amongst the various $9000 to $24600 flashy GJNZ adverts for 14-day luxury experience holidays, like an afterthought is a link to their convoluted ticket booking system that was repeatedly showing sold out for various dates in January. It was only after leaving the site and Googling the train from Auckland to Wellington there was a notice stating the line is shut from mid December to mid January "for track works". Checking with my former colleague who works out there, he reckons it's open. I did try an irrelevant date long after we'll have travelled and it seems the prices have now doubled in recent years.

Over at Wellington and on to the South Island, I thought I'd book a through ticket from Wellington by boat onto the train at Picton to Christchurch... no, can't do that either. They want £120 for the train from Picton to Christchurch, no Interislander boat included.

Finally, I gave up on GJNZ and was looking at the Dunedin Railways train up to Middlemarch. Nope, they're only going to Pukerangi and wanted a few hundred pounds for a minibus for the last eight miles.

We gave up. Hiring a car now. Except in the cities, seems NZ has given up on trains. Shame as I had great memories of many journeys there previously.

 

[stadler]

Was going to visit New Zealand and had a look at their rail service, "Great Journeys New Zealand" website.

Hidden away amongst the various $9000 to $24600 flashy GJNZ adverts for 14-day luxury experience holidays, like an afterthought is a link to their convoluted ticket booking system that was repeatedly showing sold out for various dates in January. It was only after leaving the site and Googling the train from Auckland to Wellington there was a notice stating the line is shut from mid December to mid January "for track works". Checking with my former colleague who works out there, he reckons it's open. I did try an irrelevant date long after we'll have travelled and it seems the prices have now doubled in recent years.

Over at Wellington and on to the South Island, I thought I'd book a through ticket from Wellington by boat onto the train at Picton to Christchurch... no, can't do that either. They want £120 for the train from Picton to Christchurch, no Interislander boat included.

Finally, I gave up on GJNZ and was looking at the Dunedin Railways train up to Middlemarch. Nope, they're only going to Pukerangi and wanted a few hundred pounds for a minibus for the last eight miles.

We gave up. Hiring a car now. Except in the cities, seems NZ has given up on trains. Shame as 8 had great memories of many journeys there previously.

Long distance trains in New Zealand are a joke. The very few remaining services are overpriced infrequent trains that are really intended for tourists rather than ordinary passengers making a journey to get somewhere. Almost no ordinary passengers use them. They cost about three times the price of a coach and take longer than the coach and only run a few times a week. It is such a shame. New Zealand has excellent suburban train services in Auckland and Wellington but sadly long distance services are basically dead.

 

[endecotp]

I went to NZ in 2003; hitch-hiking seemed to be the best way to get around in every respect.

 

[wellhouse]

Currently in New Zealand, and took the Coastal Pacific from Picton to Christchurch a few days ago.

KiwiRail make it abundantly clear that their three long distance services are luxury tourist experiences, and as such, I'd suggest comparing them with something like The Glacier Express (with Scenic Plus more like Glacier Express Excellence Class).

We were delighted with our trip.

We've also used suburban services around Auckland, and the 'Express' service from Wellington for a day trip out to Martinborough via Featherston. Only 5 services a day, so not remotely the level of service we are used to in the UK outside The Highlands or the Heart Of Wales, but NZ is another country with quite distinct topography and demography.

Embrace it on its own terms, and you can enjoy a terrific railway experience along with everything else the country has to offer.

We are looking forward to The Northern Explorer from Wellington to Auckland in a fortnight's time.

Incidentally, while through ticketing is no longer offered from Wellington to Christchurch, you can still check bags all the way through, so you don't need to collect and recheck them at Picton.