Pages tagged with: transport

New Zealand's worst railway disaster occurred on Christmas Eve 1953, when the Wellington–Auckland night express plunged into the swollen Whangaehu River near Tangiwai. Of the 285 people on board, 151 were killed. The tragedy stunned the world and left a nation in mourning.

Before most people had cars or telephones, let alone television and the Internet, the railway provided many communities with their main connection to the outside world.

The disasters timeline and map give an overview of New Zealand's worst natural disasters, transport accidents, fires, mining accidents and other tragedies that have caused major loss of life.

All aboard! The North Island main trunk railway is 100 years old in 2008. Take a trip back in time to explore the epic construction of the line, the heyday of the steam passenger train and the place of the iconic railway refreshment room in New Zealand life.

An island nation half a world away from its main trading partner, New Zealand in the mid-20th century was overwhelmingly dependent on sea transport for its prosperity and security.

On a fine, calm day ‘Cruising on the Interislander’ can be like a luxury Mediterranean cruise. But on a bad day Cook Strait can be one of the world's roughest stretches of water: seasickness, dodgy food and wildcat strikes have all been part of the colourful Cook Strait ferry story.

A history of the North Island railway main trunk line since the first through train left Wellington on 7 August 1908

For most second-class travellers, travelling the main trunk meant a long, sleepless journey on hard-backed seats, struggling to find 'elusive comfort with the NZR pillow'.

Today there are 120 MPs in New Zealand's Parliament, which is a far cry from the 37 who met for the first time in Auckland in 1854.

The transformation of space through new communication and transport systems was a preoccupation in nineteenth-century New Zealand; twentieth-century society was no less intent on bridging gaps between people and places.

The Captain Cook, along with the Captain Hobson, brought assisted immigrants to New Zealand via the Panama Canal from 1952.

Refreshments are an essential and often talked about part of any train journey.

Politicians used the ferries to travel between their electorates and Wellington, so they scrutinised the Union Steam Ship Company's management of the ships.

Before 1962 rail struggled to compete with ships for inter-island business, but the road/rail ferries changed that.

In the 1960s, the ferries' food and services fell short of the glossy ads, but now they are more upmarket.

Crossing Cook Strait is often idyllic, but it can be one of the world’s roughest stretches of water as it's part of the westerly wind belt known as the Roaring Forties.

From 'puke' green to funnells sprouting ferns, the ferries' branding and appearance have had many changes.

One of the early issues parliamentarians discussed was pay for MPs, and one of the biggest difficulties MPs faced in the early years was travelling to Parliament.

Cook Strait ferries were vital to the flow of freight and passengers between the North and South islands, and  interruptions because of bad weather, mechanical problems or strikes and lockouts inevitably hit the headlines.