Find out what it's like to travel on New Zealand's newest passenger train, Te Huia, which operates between the country's fourth biggest city Hamilton and its most populous city, Auckland.
In this video, I take you on a tour of the train, highlighting some of the trains's key features. I try some of the food and drink options from the onboard cafe and show you the beautiful scenery along the way.
Te Huia runs return services from Frankton (Hamilton) to the Strand (Auckland) twice a day during the week, and once on Saturdays.
The service is a five-year trial with subsidies from the NZ Transport Agency and Waikato local authorities. The service began on 6 April 2021. It stops at Frankton, Rotokauri (The Base), Huntly, Papakura, Puhinui and The Strand.
Te Huia timetable, fares and travel information:
hhttps://www.tehuiatrain.co.nz/
🚉 Train: Te Huia
🚉 Operator: KiwiRail on behalf of Waikato Regional Council
🚉 Locomotives: DFB 7295 and 7077
🚉 Seat: Various (no allocated seating) in refurbished SA and SD carriages
🚉 Route: Hamilton Frankton - The Strand (Auckland)
🚉 Distance: 138km
🚉 Travel time: 2 hours 40 minutes (scheduled)
🚉 Class: Economy (one class)
🚉 Travel date: 25 October 2022
EQUIPMENT:
🚉 Cameras: GoPro Hero 10, GoPro Hero 8, iPhone 12 Pro Max, Panasonic HC-VX1, DJI Mini 3 Pro
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:10 - Frankton Station (Hamilton)
01:46 - Te Huia locos and consist
03:30 - Frankton to Rotokauri (Hamilton)
05:42 - Route map and following the Waikato River
07:42 - Raahui Pookeka (Huntly)
08:45 - Exploring the train
10:26 - Cafe (lunch)
12:16 - Pukekohe and seat review
13:20 - Papakura
14:18 - Wine time and Puhinui
17:26 - Scenic route into Auckland
18:57 - Fares and arrival into Auckland
20:26 - Final thoughts
Music
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Credits and sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Huia
https://www.tehuiatrain.co.nz/
Official KiwiRail map:
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=556c4a9c73914fe1983529ddf9ae5099
North Island rail map:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/NorthIsland_rrMap_v02.svg
Manu3d at English Wikipedia(Original text: Emanuele D'Arrigo), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo attributions:
Huia (bird)
An illustration of a pair of Huia, a bird which went extinct in 1907 (approx).
J. G. Keulemans, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Huia_Buller.jpg
British Rail Mk2 coach
Hugh Llewelyn, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BR_Mk.IIf_TSO_No.M6001_(7169855368).jpg
Video of wheelchair hoist in tweet by Michael Pulman.
https://twitter.com/realmikepulman/status/1374888341972217859?s=20&t=ekTovB4p6zNW9ZMO68bJ9A
OpenRailwayMap:
https://www.openrailwaymap.org
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