The North Island main trunk line

On 7 August 1908, the first train to travel the length of the North Island main trunk railway left Wellington bound for Auckland. The construction of this 680-kilometre line had posed enormous engineering challenges and taken more than two decades. It would not be officially opened until 6 November, but three months earlier a 'Parliament Special' ferried politicians north to meet the United States Navy's visiting Great White Fleet.

That first trip took more than 20 hours. By the mid 1920s the new 'Night Limited' Express linked Auckland and Wellington in 14 hours. That might still seem like an eternity today, but compared to the alternatives – a long, uncomfortable sea voyage, or a challenging stagecoach or car trip over primitive roads – the main trunk was a great leap forward.

For decades after 1908 this was New Zealand's most important transport route. Up until the Second World War at least, almost everyone – politicians, Governors-General, royal visitors, businessmen, public servants, entertainers, sports teams, soldiers bound for war, local holidaymakers and overseas tourists – travelling between New Zealand's capital and its biggest city took the train.

Rise and fall - the North Island main trunk line

Up and running

After more than two decades of surveys, engineering challenges and sheer hard work, the main trunk's first through train left Wellington on the night of 7 August 1908.

The finished line was officially opened by Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward on 6 November. Regular express services started in mid February 1909, taking about 18 hours to complete the journey. In 1924 a new 'Night Limited' express, hauled by New Zealand Railways' celebrated AB-class 'Pacific' locomotives, cut the trip to just over 14 hours. The inter-war years were to be the golden age of main trunk passenger travel.

Despite its discomforts, most business, government and tourist travellers preferred overnight travel. It allowed them to save on accommodation and delivered them at their destination in the early morning. A 'Daylight Limited' was trialled in 1925–6 and 1929–30 but thereafter was confined to the Christmas and Easter holiday periods. At these times main trunk traffic swelled to bursting point, especially in the late 1930s.

The holiday rush

On Christmas Eve 1934, five trains carried 1800 travellers from Wellington to Auckland. In 1938 a total of eight expresses ferried more than 3000 passengers north. Easter traffic also boomed in these years, peaking on the Thursday before Easter 1939 when eight expresses ran each way between Auckland and Wellington. The New Zealand Herald described the bustle of Auckland station at Christmas 1935:

Throngs of people in the most diverse kinds of holiday attire, people laden with suitcases, bags and parcels of every conceivable shape and size, and above all children, armed with buckets and spades, toy aeroplanes, squeakers and a hundred and one other toys, all hurried or were hurried down the platforms, until it seemed that everyone in Auckland was bent on leaving the city.

A downhill spiral

Passenger numbers on the main trunk dwindled from the 1950s due to increasing competition from cars, buses and aeroplanes. After decades of running a predominantly overnight service, in the 1960s New Zealand Railways promoted the scenic attractions of daytime travel on the main trunk route. In 1963 a diesel-hauled Scenic Daylight service was introduced, followed by the daytime Blue Streak (1968) and Silver Fern (1972) railcars, which did the trip in under 11 hours. In 1991 railcars were replaced by the Overlander train.

The main trunk remained a crucial freight artery, and between 1980 and 1988 the central section between Hamilton and Palmerston North was electrified. But passenger numbers continued to fall during the 1980s and 1990s. The overnight Northerner service – the heir to the legendary Night Limited – was axed in 2004. In 2006 the daytime Overlander seemed set for the same fate. It survived, largely thanks to public protest, and passenger numbers have since increased. With the repurchase of railways by the government in 2008, the future of passenger travel on the main trunk appears secure.